JP2002527839A - Driver information system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] An information system that provides drivers with services including traffic and navigation services and other information services. One example of a system utilizes existing equipment in a wireless telephone system, for example, by using the input / output capabilities of a telephone handset. Another example is a portable system that has multiple switches that initiate access to a remote server in one of a number of operating modes. For example, the system has a switch to activate traffic information, roadside assistance, personal information or emergency mode. The system includes a positioning device that generates position data regarding the geographical position of the system, and a wireless communication device. The system also includes an audio output device such as a speaker for displaying the received information. The system also includes storage for the unique ID of the information system. This ID is sent to the remote server via the wireless communication device. Another example of this system is an autonomous, client-server navigation service in which an exchangeable database supports routing in a limited area and a remote server supports routing outside that area. I will provide a.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

 The present invention relates to a vehicle information system.

[0002] Vehicle information systems, particularly navigation systems, have been developed to provide various types of information to a vehicle driver. An autonomous navigation system, which is one type of such a navigation system, is usually a compact optical disk (for example,
Use onboard maps stored on removable media such as CD-ROMs. The navigation system uses an on-board map to set a route from a starting point to a destination specified by a driver of the vehicle. For example, updating the map of the autonomous system for adding or correcting information typically requires the exchange of removable media.

[0003] In some navigation systems, a driver inputs a destination by typing a desired destination (current position depending on the system) one by one. There is also a system in which a driver makes a selection from an accumulation list of an interesting facility such as a gas station or a restaurant. When the driver enters a destination, the system sets a route to that destination along the road network. A route is usually set to give the shortest distance or the shortest traveling time. When the route is set, the system guides the driver along the route.

There are various types of guidance methods along a route, and a particularly simple method is a method in which individual instructions are successively provided to a driver at an intersection where one road is turned to the next road. is there. The driver clearly indicates that he is waiting for the next instruction. For example, those instructions are provided by audio output, and the driver waits for the next instruction and then "next"
To say.

[0005] Another method of guiding along a route uses a map that dynamically displays a set route and the position of the vehicle. The driver uses this map to determine where and when to change directions in order to follow the set route.

[0006] Among the guidance methods, there is a method of estimating the position of the vehicle using an in-vehicle sensor. For example,
The traveling direction is estimated by a magnetic compass, and the traveling distance is estimated by a speed sensor. Furthermore, the position of the vehicle can be estimated by the global positioning system (GPS). In GPS, an in-vehicle GPS receiver receives signals transmitted from a large number of satellites and estimates its absolute position.

There are other types of vehicle information systems that have been developed. Some of them broadcast traffic-related information such as traffic advisories to special on-board radio receivers.

[0008]

Summary of the Invention

In general, in one aspect, the present invention is a driver information system that includes a handset module and a communication module, such as a handset module and a communication module that make up a modular wireless telephone. This information system
A computer coupled between the handset module and the communication module is also provided. The handset module includes a display, for example, a small alphanumeric display, a keyboard, for example, a keyboard with function keys, and an audio device for receiving and reproducing acoustic information, for example, a microphone and speakers. The communication module includes a wireless communication interface that receives a data signal from a server. The computer coupled to the handset module and the communication module includes: (a) a handset module including a function of receiving a telephone dialing command entered by a user on a keyboard and coupling the audio device to the telephone communication channel via the communication module; Providing a telephony service to a user of the handset module in combination with the user, and (b) a user-entered driver, including, for example, using a keypad or speaking commands recognized by a speech recognition system. (C) a function of receiving an information command via the handset module; (c) a function of retrieving information from the server via the wireless communication interface in response to the driver information command;
3.) It is programmed to perform the function of presenting the retrieved information to the user, for example, by presenting the information on a display of the handset or playing the information with the audio device of the handset. This information system further
It is possible to incorporate a positioning system coupled to the computer, wherein the computer further comprises (e) a function for receiving the geographical position of the driver information system from the positioning system, and (f) via a communication interface. And the function of providing the location to the server. The computer may further be coupled to a display and other devices that present graphical information to a user, for example, via an onboard data bus.

In general, in another aspect, the present invention is a portable information system having a plurality of switches for initiating access to a remote server in one of a corresponding plurality of operating modes. is there. The system may include, for example, a switch or other type of input device for activating traffic information, roadside assistance, personal information or an emergency mode. The system is coupled to a positioning system for generating position data relating to the geographical position of the system, a switch and a positioning system, and transmitting the generated position data in response to a signal from the switch to a remote server and then to a server. And a wireless communication device for receiving information from the wireless communication device. The wireless communication device receives information from a server. The system also has an audio output device coupled to the wireless communication device for presenting the received information. This system is a unique information system
A storage device for storing the ID may be provided. This ID is transmitted by the wireless communication device to a remote server.

Viewed from another aspect, the present invention is an in-vehicle navigation system that provides route information through a road network. The system includes a first storage database that includes information related to roads in a road network that is within a first geographical area and that can be provided on a replaceable storage device such as a CD-ROM. The system may optionally further include a second storage database containing information about major roads of the road network in the second geographic region. The first geographical area includes a common area within the second geographical area, and the first storage database includes information about roads in the common area that are not included in the second storage database. The system also includes (a)
A function of receiving the specific information of the start point and the end point of the road network; and (b) the start point and the end point are the first.
The ability to set a route through the road network from the start point to the end point if it is within the geographical area of (c) communicating with the computer of the remote server if the start point or the end point is not within the first geographical area By doing so, there is provided an in-vehicle computer that executes a function of extracting information on a route from the start point to the end point via the road network.
The advantage of this system is that it can function autonomously in the first geographic area without necessarily requiring the assistance of a remote server. The system can also provide navigation functionality outside of the first geographic area, for example, by retrieving information from a remote server about a route portion that is outside the first geographic area.

In general, in another aspect, the invention is a navigation system. The system includes a printed map that displays a geographic region with a road network within the geographic region. The map includes annotations, such as coordinates and symbols, that identify geographic features such as points of interest or road segments within the geographic area. The system also receives an input device, such as a keypad of a telephone device, for inputting an annotation identifying the selected geographic feature from the print map, and receives the input annotation and selects the selected annotation via the road network. And an output device, such as a display of a telephone handset, for presenting the set route information. The advantages of this system are that the user can easily enter the abbreviation code on the printed map as a clue and output the abbreviation code corresponding to the annotation on the printed map, so that an output device with limited capability can be used. On the point.

In general, in another aspect, the invention is directed to vehicle information having a translucent overlay, including, for example, a printed map displaying road networks and other geographical symbols, and a display for receiving the overlay. System. The display includes a plurality of controlled light sources that, when activated, are visible through the overlay. The on-board computer is programmed to provide route information by activating one or more controlled light sources.

[0013] Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and from the claims.

[0014]

Embodiment

1 Overview (FIGS. 1 and 6-10) 1.1 Configuration (FIG. 1) Referring to FIG. 1, the vehicle information system provides various services including route setting and guidance (ie, navigation) services to a wide geographical area. The target area is provided to the driver of a large number of vehicles 100 that can be driven. To provide these services to the vehicle driver, the vehicle information system performs some functions in a server system 125 located at a fixed location centralized server 120 and other functions in an onboard system 105 of each vehicle 100. Perform a function. The vehicle information system also provides a reference for estimating the absolute position of the vehicles (their latitude and longitude). Global positioning
In particular, (GPS) satellites 140 transmit signals that, when received by the vehicle, allow the in-vehicle system to estimate their location.

[0015] The entire navigation service of the vehicle information system provided by combining the functions executed by the server 125 and the on-vehicle system 105 provides guidance to the destination by the system after the driver of the vehicle specifies a desired destination. enable. The in-vehicle system 105 tracks (ie, repeatedly estimates) the position of the vehicle when the vehicle travels to the desired destination, and gives an instruction to guide the driver to the desired destination. For example, when the vehicle approaches the nearest intersection, the in-vehicle system 105 gives an instruction to change the direction at the intersection. The in-vehicle system 105 usually determines whether or not the vehicle has deviated from the set route due to a driver's mistake. When the vehicle deviates from the route, the vehicle-mounted system 105 gives an instruction to the driver to continue guiding the vehicle to the destination despite the mistake.

The server system 125 provides various services to the in-vehicle system 105 by a client-server method in which the in-vehicle system 105 requests the server system 125 to provide a service. For example, the server system 125
Executes a route setting function in response to a request from the in-vehicle system 105,
On the other hand, the in-vehicle system 105 executes a route guidance function.

The onboard system 105 is coupled to the server system 125 by a wireless communication link. In particular, the in-vehicle system 105 uses a modulated data signal sent over a standard analog cellular telephone system (i.e., the Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS) standard), sometimes via a server system 125 and a signal path 110 using a modulated data signal. connect. In-vehicle system 105 typically operates in an autonomous mode after first communicating with server system 125. During the initial communication, the departure position (or other location-related data), speed and direction, and the desired destination are uploaded from the in-vehicle system to the server system, and then the set route is downloaded from the server system to the in-vehicle system. After the set route information is downloaded from the server to the vehicle, the in-vehicle system operates in the autonomous route guidance mode and does not need to further communicate with the server system. While the in-vehicle system is in the autonomous route guidance mode, the in-vehicle system does not necessarily need to communicate with the server system,
Even if it deviates from the set route, it can return to the original route.

Onboard system 105 receives signals from GPS satellites 140 via radio frequency communication path 112. Server system 125 also receives signals from GPS satellites 140 via radio frequency communication path 112. As described in more detail below (Chapter 2.4)
), The server system 125 and the in-vehicle system 105 sometimes use the data extracted from the signal received from the GPS satellite 140 by the server system 125,
Performing a "different" GPS calculation improves the estimated position of the vehicle 100.

With continued reference to FIG. 1, server system 125 includes a map provider 160
(Eg, a seller of map-related information) to provide road network-related information including the location and type of road segments that are interconnected to form a road network. Map provider 160
Or any other external information provider provides other map-related information such as representative centers of interest such as city centers, restaurants and gas stations.

In some versions of this system, server system 125 acts as a gateway to external information system 130. These external systems provide information for use by server system 125 or provide information that is sent directly to on-board system 105. For example, the external information system 130 can provide traffic-related information that the server system 125 uses to set the fastest route from the starting point to the destination. As another example, external information system 130 may provide a communication service, such as a call service, to a vehicle driver.

Another communication method can be used between the in-vehicle system 105 and the server system 125. Standard analog cellular telephone links are advantageous because the geographical coverage of the infrastructure required to support such links is vast in North America. In other parts of the world, digital cellular links may be more appropriate if the necessary infrastructure is available. Such digital infrastructure is expected to be available in North America in the future. Communication systems using satellites can be used to connect onboard systems to server systems. In addition, the in-vehicle system 105 can be connected to the server system 125 using another wireless data communication system in the same manner. Such systems (eg, ARDIS, RAM
, CDPD, GSM) are currently being used in North America, but their geographical availability is still not adequate to support this system and allow vehicle drivers to be available in a wide geographical area. Absent. Many wireless communication systems include a "short message" function that can transmit short messages. Such a short message service can be used for certain types of communication between in-vehicle systems and server systems.
For example, it can be used for reporting an exceptional situation.

Instead of relying on signals from GPS satellites 140, other positioning systems can be used. For example, roadside light or radio frequency beacon systems can be used to provide location information to vehicles. Such roadside beacon systems are not widely available in North America. On the other hand, the GPS method currently covers a wide geographic area.

The centralized server 120 is centralized in the sense that it provides services in one place to vehicles dispersed in a certain geographic area. The location of this central server need not be central, but may be in the same geographical area as the vehicles it serves. Also, while this system is described as utilizing a single centralized server 120, multiple servers may be utilized. If multiple servers are used, the in-vehicle system 105 may be configured to access a particular server for all or a particular type of service request.

1.2 Operation (FIGS. 6-10) The general operation of the navigation service of the vehicle information system can be understood with reference to FIGS. 6-11 which show various exemplary maps and routes used in the system. Will. These figures correspond to the common geographical areas schematically illustrated in FIG. The geographic area shown is a very small portion of the area typically supported by navigation services, which may be as large as many countries in the United States or Europe.

Referring to FIG. 6, illustrated map 600 shows three types of roads indicated by different line widths. Generally, roads are categorized by their size or typical vehicle speed. For example, it is classified into a highway, a road with restricted access, a main road, and a side road. In FIG. 6, the highway 610 is indicated by a thick line extending in the vertical direction. A set of main roads 620, 622, 624, 626, indicated by lines of intermediate thickness, is a road network that intersects the highways. The main roads 620, 622 each have two ramps 612,
At 614, a connection is made to the highway 610. A set of roads (side roads) 63 running in a residential area
0-636) complete these road networks.

In this example, the driver and the vehicle are at starting point X, indicated at 690. Although not shown in this figure, the driver can easily access the desired destination 6 by the highway 610.
Hope to go to 92.

As a first step, the driver enters a description of the desired destination 692 into the in-vehicle system 1.
Enter 05. For example, the driver inputs the city name, road name, and street address of the destination address. The destination is confirmed by the in-vehicle system, for example, by confirming that the address is within the allowable range of the designated road.

When the in-vehicle system 105 receives and confirms the destination specification, it initiates a communication session with the server system 125 via the cellular telephone link 110 and sends the destination specification to the server system. The in-vehicle system also transmits information that allows the server system to know the departure position 690 of the vehicle. For example, the in-vehicle system may transmit the estimated latitude and longitude obtained from the vehicle's GPS receiver or other raw output from the GPS receiver.

Referring to FIG. 7, the server system stores a detailed road network 700. The road network is displayed as a graph having a set of nodes, which are represented by circles in the figure, and links (arcs) corresponding to road segments interconnect these nodes. The data stored in connection with the link shown in the graph includes the grade of the road represented by the link. The data associated with each node of the graph includes not only its latitude and longitude (or its equivalent position relative to another node, which is a known position), but also another link connected at that node from one link. Includes other information indicating what direction changes are possible on the link.
Many links are approximated by connecting nodes at both ends of the link with straight lines. Some links, such as those connecting nodes 733 and 735 or nodes 716 and 725, represent road segments that include curves. The links may include one or more “formation points” represented by shaded circles 780-785 to represent curved road segments. Each formation point has associated position data. The division between adjacent formation points or between a node and an adjacent formation point is approximated by a straight line.

The server system 125 determines the latitude and longitude of the starting point of the vehicle based on information provided by the on-board system and related to the position of the vehicle 690. The server system finds a link for the vehicle to depart in the graphical representation of the road network 700 based on the latitude and longitude, speed, and direction of the vehicle. In this example, this starting position in the road network is on the link connecting nodes 753 and 763.

The server system then calculates the best route to destination 692. The determination of the best or not is based on various criteria, such as that the total travel distance is the shortest, or that the estimated travel time is the minimum using information on the estimated travel speed along the link in the road network graph. Can be performed. In this example, this setting route is indicated by a dotted line 792. Referring again to FIG. 6, this set route exits the residential area road 632 by first turning left after the vehicle departs the residential area road 635. Thereafter, the vehicle turns right onto main road 628, and then turns right onto main road 620.
Move to The main road 620 joins the highway 610. The vehicle is on Highway 61
Travel toward the destination 692 at 0.

Referring to FIG. 8, setting route 8 as a series of links connected by nodes
00 is downloaded from the server system to the vehicle-mounted system. Each node along the route (not necessarily including the starting node) is the server's road network 700
(FIG. 7). Nodes along the set route 800 correspond to “driving operations” that the driver needs to execute. For example, the driving operation in the note 790 is “turn left to road 635” (see FIG. 6). Each link along the route has one or more "waypoints." The waypoint is the server's road network 700
A formation point in, or a node that is an intersection that does not require a driving operation for the driver,
That is, it corresponds to a node of the server's road network 700 that the driver only needs to go straight without turning or performing any other driving operation. In FIG. 8, node 733
, 780, 781 are intermediate points on the link connecting the driving operation points 732 and 735.

To explain the principle, if the driver can always be expected to follow the instructions exactly,
The driver will reach the desired destination. However, the driver may not be able to reach the desired destination without changing the plan due to various factors. These factors include, for example, inaccurate initial location of the vehicle due to the distance between the side roads being too close, and complicated instructions, especially when the driver is following the instructions at the first departure of the route. For example, there is an error in the system map of the road network due to unexpected road construction, and the estimated mileage of the vehicle is incorrect.

In view of the errors associated with the first part of the route, the server system downloads a detailed map 900, known as a “spot map” around the first location 690, to the on-board system. Referring to FIG. 9, map information related to nodes and links around start position 690 is downloaded. Spot map database 9
00 is as detailed as the server's road network 700, but is geographically limited to, for example, including all nodes in the two links at the starting location.

The server system can also download a spot map around one or more driving operating points or destinations. For example, when the driving operation is particularly complicated, the server system downloads a spot map around the driving operation point.

After downloading the set route 800 and the spot map 900 to the vehicle, the communication between the in-vehicle system 105 and the server system 125 is normally completed. At this point, the driver can review the route in advance or start traveling to the destination. The driver may start running before the set route is downloaded. When the download is started, the in-vehicle system starts providing the first guidance instruction and displaying the spot map around the departure position without necessarily waiting for the route download to be completed.

While traveling to the destination, the in-vehicle system attempts to track the position of the vehicle. Each time the in-vehicle system determines that the vehicle is approaching each driving operation point, an instruction regarding an operation to be taken at the driving operation point is provided to the driver in voice and graphic form. If a spot map for the driving operation is downloaded, the in-vehicle system displays the spot map in addition to or instead of the graphical instructions.

While on the first part of the route to the destination, or around the driving operating point for which the server system provided the spot map, and the vehicle is within the area of the spot map 900, the on-board system will Is used to guide the driver to the set route. More specifically, the in-vehicle system displays the spot map and the first part of the set route to the driver. In addition, the in-vehicle system displays the tracking position of the vehicle together with the spot map. For this reason, the driver discovers that the tracking position is not along the set route, and knows how to turn from the road shown on the spot map to return to the set route, so that the driver can start the route to the destination first. Can be corrected.

The on-board system also has a pre-loaded main road network 1000, which is a stored version of the map that includes the main roads and larger roads (ie, excluding residential roads). FIG. 10 shows a part of the main road network 1000. The main road network 1000 has the same form as the server road network 700 shown in FIG. 7 except that the number of links shown is small. Incidentally, the setting route 792 is shown by a dotted line.

While traveling to the destination, the on-board system tracks the estimated position of the vehicle. If the driver does not correctly follow the instructions, the onboard system detects that the vehicle is too far from the set route. When it is detected that the vehicle deviates from the route, a correction route for returning the vehicle to the initially set route is set based on the main road map in FIG.

Returning to FIG. 6, in this example, the driver is traveling straight on the main road 628 without making a right turn from the main road 628 to the main road 620. Returning to FIG. 10, the in-vehicle system determines that node 732 despite the vehicle should be on the link connecting points 732 and 735
At a point 1010 corresponding to a point on the main road segment connecting the と and 722, and it is detected that the vehicle deviates from the route. The in-vehicle system uses the main road network 1000 to set a correction route indicated by a dashed line 1012. This reset route connects to the first set route at point 725. In resetting the route after deviating from the route, the in-vehicle system does not necessarily need to contact the server system, and performs the resetting using the main road network 1000.

Therefore, when it is determined that the vehicle deviates from the set route, the on-vehicle system combines the main road network 1000 pre-loaded on the vehicle with the spot map 900 downloaded to the vehicle together with the set route 800. To reset.

In another example of the system, when the vehicle deviates from the set route in the first traveling portion, the main road network 1000 is supplemented by the spot map 900 to reset the route.

Regarding the operation of the above-described system, the driver of the vehicle receives a driving operation instruction in a graphic format, a driving operation instruction in voice information, and a spot map instruction.

Another example of a system utilizes some of these various types of instructions. For example,
In an example of the system, only instructions by voice information are used. In another example, a driving instruction in the form of a graphic can be provided without a map or an audio instruction. Other combinations or other instruction modes can be used as well. Further, in another example of the system, for example, the driver can switch between a map instruction mode and a graphic instruction mode so that the driver of the vehicle can select an instruction mode to be used.

2 Hardware and Software Architecture (FIG. 2-5) 2.1 Components of In-Vehicle System (FIG. 2) Referring to FIG. 2, each in-vehicle system 105 provides information related to the movement of the vehicle. From the sensor 230, an input / output (I / O) device 240 for interfacing between the driver of the vehicle and the navigation system, and the server system 1 from the GPS satellite 140.
25 and an in-vehicle computer 210 that coordinates the operation of components including a communication system 250 that communicates in the opposite direction. The in-vehicle computer 210 includes a vehicle system 2 including a door lock system 272 and an airbag system 274.
70.

The in-vehicle computer 210 has limited storage capacity and processing capability. In this example of an in-vehicle system, in-vehicle computer 210 has a processor 212 coupled to other components via data bus 214. These other components include dynamic RAM (which provides 2 MB of working storage for the processor 212).
Erasable and programmable ROM (ERAM) providing 220 MB, 4 MB of non-volatile storage
PROM) 218, and a universal asynchronous receiver-transmitter (UART) 216 that enables serial communication with other components of the system. As another hardware configuration, for example, one having a large or small storage capacity can be used.

Processor 212 is also coupled to static memory 222, which is a non-volatile memory that stores code and data for system operation. Specifically, as will be described further below, this static memory 222 stores the main road network 1
000 (FIG. 10), which is used when the in-vehicle computer 212 performs route setting and guidance. Static memory 222 is a removable 40 MB flash memory system that emulates a disk storage device. Other static storage devices, including removable or non-removable disk storage devices and semiconductor memories, may be used.

The sensor 230 has a speed sensor 230 that provides a speed signal to the on-board computer 210. The speed signal encodes the mileage of the vehicle by generating a fixed number of pulses per revolution of the output shaft of the vehicle transmission, and thus by generating a fixed number of pulses per mile. . Sensor 230 also includes a magnetic compass 234 that provides a signal to vehicle computer 210 that encodes the direction of travel of the vehicle. In another example of a system, the magnetic compass 234 need not be provided because only the speed signal is used. As another example, a vehicle including a gyroscope or an accelerometer that measures the rotational speed of the vehicle, or a differential speed sensor that generates the relative speed of the wheels on both sides of the vehicle and encodes the radius of rotation when turning. Some include other sensors that measure the state of the device.

The input / output (I / O) device 240 includes a display 242. In an example of an in-vehicle system that displays only instructions in a graphic format, this display 24
2 is a small (e.g., 4-5 lines of text, consisting of 64 * 240 pixels) monochromatic liquid crystal display (e.g., providing textual and schematic image instructions to the vehicle driver). LCT). In the example of an in-vehicle system that displays a spot map to the driver, the display 242 is a display having a diagonal length of 4 to 5 inches having approximately 200 × 200 pixels. With a high resolution and large enough for a detailed map display that can be provided. Also, in another example of the system, visual feedback is not necessarily used, but only audio instructions are transmitted from the system to the driver.

The input / output device 240 also has an input device 244. The input device 244 includes a number of push buttons associated with the display 242. The driver selects the option shown on the display 242 with these push buttons or scrolls through the displayed list of options. Another example of a system includes an alphanumeric keyboard coupled to an on-board computer.

Referring to FIGS. 2A-C, the integrated input device 241 has a display 242 and a set of four rocking switches that are part of the input device 244. One swing switch is assigned the inputs "menu" and "delete," and the other three switches are reconfigurable. Referring to FIG. 2A, display 242 is used to display both textual and graphical instructions. FIG. 2B-
Referring to C, display 242 is used to provide visual feedback to the driver when entering information. FIG. 2B shows an embodiment of selecting from a list.
C shows a spell input mode when the driver selects a character with a rotary switch and sets an input word.

Returning to FIG. 2, the input / output device 240 also has an audio output device 246. The audio output device 246 provides an audio output consisting of, for example, instructions by voice stored or synthesized in a vehicle-mounted computer using a compressed waveform or a connected waveform or a voice synthesizer.

The input / output device 240 may be dedicated to the onboard computer 210 or may be part of another onboard device such as a radio. In the latter case, the display 242 and the input device 244 are input buttons for the display and other components, respectively. Many audio devices have a standard control interface, such as the ACP (Audio Control Protocol) interface used on Ford Motor Company vehicles. In such a case, the in-vehicle computer 210 can communicate with the audio device through the standard communication interface. While the audio output can be provided to the driver via an audio system, the on-board computer 210 may stop or attenuate the audio system output while the audio output is provided through a dedicated audio path.

With continued reference to FIG. 2, communication system 250 has a GPS receiver 252 coupled to a GPS antenna 253 that receives signals from GPS satellites 140. The GPS receiver 252 sends the position-related information to the in-vehicle computer 210 at, for example, one second intervals.
The location-related information can be an estimated location expressed in latitude and longitude or other raw measurements that can be used to calculate the estimated location. The GPS receiver 252 can also receive correction data from the on-board computer 210 for calculating a highly accurate estimated position from the raw measurements. As described further below, this correction data can be received from server system 125 and is sometimes used to refine the location-related information provided by GPS receiver 252.

Communication system 250 also has a cellular transceiver 254 coupled to cellular telephone antenna 255. The cellular transceiver 254 provides the driver with voice and data communication capabilities. A modem 256 is coupled between the onboard computer 210 and the cellular transceiver 254. Data transmitted to and received from the server system 125 via a cellular telephone line passes through a modem 256. Cellular transceiver 254 is also coupled to handset 260. The driver can make a normal call with the handset 262 while the cellular transceiver 254 is not being used to communicate with the server system 125.

2.2 Components of Server System (FIG. 3) Referring to FIG. 3, server system 125 has a server computer 310 that communicates with in-vehicle system 105. The server system 125 includes a telephone interface 32 for communicating with each vehicle-mounted system 105 for data transmission.
Has zero.

The in-vehicle system 105 initiates communication with the server system 125 by making a cellular phone call to the telephone number of the server system. The telephone is connected from a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 340 to a telephone interface 320 via a cellular telephone network 350. Telephone interface 320 answers the call.
Telephone interface 320 includes a modem function for making a data connection with modem 256 (FIG. 2) of the vehicle making the call. As another example of this system,
Some have a telephone interface 320 directly connected to a cellular telephone network 350. Further, the data signal may be demodulated before reaching the server system of the telephone network itself, for example.

The server system can also perform data transmission with a specific vehicle by calling the telephone number of the vehicle. Cellular transceiver 254 (FIG. 2) determines whether the incoming call is a data call from a server system or a voice call for voice communication with a vehicle driver. The data call is connected to a modem 256 (FIG. 2) that provides a data connection between the telephone interface 320 and the modem 256.

The server system 125 also has a GPS receiver 325. GPS receiver 325 is GPS
The signal from the satellite 140 is received. Server system 125 at a known location of centralized server 120 does not rely on GPS receiver 325 to determine its location. Instead, server computer 310 sends its known location (ie, latitude and longitude) to GPS receiver 325. Based on the satellite signal and the known location of the server, the GPS receiver 325 may provide GPS correction data, such as "differential" pseudorange correction data provided in accordance with the Radio Technology Commission for Marine Services (RTCM) standard RTCM SC-104. To send instead. This correction data is used to improve the estimated position accuracy of the vehicle 100, as described in more detail in Section 2.4.

The server computer 310 has a processor 312, a working memory, and a static memory 316. The static memory 316 has a storage area for storing map-related information used by the server system for calculating a route.

The server computer is coupled to an external information system 130. For example, as an external information system, a data network 330 such as the Internet
There are other computers coupled to the server system 125 via the.

The server system 125 receives map information from the map provider 160 on a removable computer medium 360 such as an optical disk (eg, a CD-ROM). The server computer 310 reads the map data and stores the processed map information in the static memory 316 for further use. Alternatively, map provider 160 can provide map information to the server system by sending it to server system 125 via some other method, for example, data network 330.

2.3 Map Database The in- vehicle system and the server system use data extracted from the map information supplied from the map provider 160 to the computer medium 360 (FIG. 3). The raw map information provided by the map provider 160 includes various information about the road network in a particular geographic area, such as, for example, a portion of the United States. The information in this area includes a road network display such as the graph shown in FIG. The links in the graph correspond to sections of the road network, for example, road sections between two intersections. The nodes of the graph correspond to intersections or other points where two or more links are joined. A node connecting only two links is used as a "formation point", for example, when a single road changes direction. This makes it possible to sufficiently approximate the road to continuous straight line segments.

The map information includes node positions on the graph represented by terms equivalent to the latitude and longitude. The map information also includes link information such as road names and links and ranges of addresses on the links. Links are also categorized according to their size, from small roads in residential areas to interstate highways.

One example of a map provider for this system is NavigatI / Onal Technologies,
Inc. (NavTech) of Rosemont, Illinois. Map information is provided in one of a number of interchangeable formats, such as the Geographic Data File (GPF) format, which is an international standard format. A map in GPF format contains links and nodes and their attributes, as well as data structures related to the relationships between nodes and links in the graph. NavTech classifies road links in a scale from 0 to 4, where 0 is a residential area road (side road), 1 is a major road, 2 is a highway, 3 is a freeway, and 4 is an interstate highway. provide.

In another example of a system, it is possible to use map information in a format that can be converted into a representation of road network links and nodes.

2. 4 GPS and (D) GPS Correction As outlined above, both the in-vehicle system and the server system have a GPS receiver. GPS positioning uses the distance to many satellites in precisely known orbits around the earth. Almost 24 satellite constellations are in such known earth orbit. A receiver at or near the ground at any point is typically within the range of a subset of three or more satellites. The GPS receiver calculates an estimate of the distance or range (pseudorange measurement) to each satellite of the subset of satellites in range. The three-dimensional coordinates of the known coordinates of each satellite in the subset for which the pseudorange measurements have been calculated are then calculated. Four pseudorange measurements are sufficient to uniquely determine the coordinates of the receiver, based on simple geometric calculations (ie, the points where the spheres intersect). The receiver is at one of two possible points, usually
Three measurements are sufficient to determine that only one of the points is reasonable (e.g., at the surface of the earth rather than the outer space). A GPS receiver can determine the two-dimensional position of the earth's surface from three pseudorange measurements with an accuracy of almost 100 meters.

However, pseudorange measurements do not completely represent the distance from the receiver to the satellite due to several factors. First, the speed of signal propagation from the satellite to the GPS receiver varies due to variations in atmospheric conditions. Also, the transmitted signal is intentionally adjusted by introducing a variable time delay at the transmitter, which limits the accuracy of the estimated position at the receiver based solely on pseudorange measurements.

One way to overcome the difficulties in the accuracy of pseudorange measurements is to use differential GPS ((D) G
Use PS). Differential GPS consists of receiving signals from GPS satellites at a receiver at a known location. The difference between the pseudorange measurement from the satellite to its receiver and the calculated distance between the satellite's position and the receiver's position is the pseudorange correction term for that satellite. Calculate a separate pseudorange correction term for each satellite. Because the propagation of the signal changes slowly, and the delay that you intentionally introduce changes slowly,
Pseudorange measurements from a satellite can be further corrected by a pseudorange correction term for a satellite for a relatively short period of time, eg, one minute, for the rate of change. In addition, since the variation in the propagation speed is not local when viewed geographically, this pseudo-range correction term can be applied to a GPS receiver located at a different place from the GPS receiver that calculated the pseudo-range correction term.

The vehicle information system uses three approaches for differential GPS correction.
The first approach is commonly known as "inverted (D) GPS". This approach is for the in-vehicle system to transmit a pseudorange measurement or other raw GPS data associated with the pseudorange measurement that was sent from the GPS receiver to the server system via the cellular telephone link. . Server system before its own GP
The differential GPS correction term obtained from the S receiver is applied to the received pseudorange measurement value received from the in-vehicle system, and the server system calculates a correction position for the vehicle.

In a second approach to position estimation by GPS, a server system sends pseudorange correction data to an in-vehicle system. The in-vehicle system converts the received correction data
A GPS receiver which outputs an estimated position with improved accuracy based on the raw pseudorange measurements and pseudorange correction data.

A third method of using differential GPS in a system is an approach in which the onboard system determines its own pseudorange correction data based on its own estimated position. For example, when the in-vehicle system detects that the vehicle is at a known driving operation point along the set route, the pseudo range correction data is calculated based on the downloaded driving operation point position. This differential correction data is used for a certain time after passing the driving operation point.

Another mode in which the in-vehicle system corrects the GPS estimated position calculated uses correction data expressed in latitude and longitude rather than in pseudorange measurements. For example, the server system can provide GPS correction data including a latitude and longitude offset that the onboard system adds to the estimated latitude and longitude position from the GPS receiver. With this type of GPS correction method, the onboard GPS receiver need not have differential GPS capability. The reason is that the position correction is performed on the output of the GPS receiver and not as part of the process of calculating the estimated position in the GPS receiver.

2.5 In-Vehicle Software Components (FIGS. 4A-B) Referring to FIGS. 4A-B, the software components of the in-vehicle system 105 executed by the in-vehicle computer 210 (FIG. 2) are static memories. 2 includes the relatively static data stored in 222 and the code stored in the working memory 410, which comprises some combination of DRAM 220 and EPROM 218 shown in FIG.

The static data includes an in-vehicle database 432 and software 436. Code in working memory 410 includes navigation application 412, communication interface 414, and vehicle interface 416. Communication interface 414 provides an interface between navigation application 412 and GPS receiver 252 and cellular transceiver 254. Vehicle interface 4
16 provides an interface between navigation application 412, sensor 230, vehicle system 270, and I / O device 240.

2.5.1 Vehicle-mounted Database 432 (FIGS. 11-14) The vehicle-mounted database 432 is used by the vehicle-mounted system 105 for two main functions. First, the in-vehicle system 105 uses the in-vehicle database 432 to confirm an input from the driver in a destination specifying process of determining an option to be presented to the driver using the database. Second, the in-vehicle system 105 uses the in-vehicle database 432 when the in-vehicle system detects that the vehicle has deviated from the route in the guidance process and determines that a new route needs to be set.

For the process of entering destinations, the database 432 may use the on-board to determine known city names, road names of those cities (including roads in residential areas, or side streets), and valid street addresses for those roads. Contains tables used by the system. The database also includes a table showing the type of points of interest, a particular type of point of interest in the vicinity of the vehicle location or in a particular city. For the guidance process, the database 432 includes another table used by the in-vehicle system to set a route from the measured position (latitude and longitude) to a desired destination or an intermediate point on a previously set route. For example, the main road network 1000 (FIG. 10) is stored in the data table of the on-vehicle database 432.

Referring to FIG. 11, address / city / state name table 1110 of in-vehicle database 432 includes a series of records associating a combination of a country name, a state name, and a city name with a series of combinations of roads and address ranges. An exemplary record 1112 of the address / city / state table 1110 includes a country field 1114 that references the country name of the country table 1120.
Country name table 1120 holds a text representation of known country names, such as the United States or Canada. Record 1112 also includes a city / state table 11 used to request a textual representation of city and state names in the country name referenced by country field 1114.
It has a city / state name field 1116 that references 30. Record 1112 also includes an address / road name field 1118 that references the first record in record range 1158 of address / road name table 1150. The record 1113 immediately following record 1112 in the address / city / state table 1110 includes an address / road name field 1119 that references the next record 1153 after the record range 1158, which determines the records within the range 1158.

Each record in the address / road name table 1150 relates to a combination of a complete road name and a valid address range of the road name. Many records in the address / road name table 1150 have the same road name, thereby forming an entire valid address range. A typical record 1152 of the address / road name table 1150 is road name field 1
154 and an address range field 1156. The road name field 1154 refers to a record in the road record table 1160 for forming a text display of the road name. The address range field 1156 contains an address range table 1180 that includes entries for the lowest value 1184 and the highest value 1186 within the valid address range for the relevant road.
Record 1182 is referred to.

The road name record table 1160 is used to completely specify a road name by a base road name, optional prefix and suffix, and road type. For example, "North Main Blvd." is represented by a combination of a base road name "Main" and a prefix / suffix "North /-", and a road type "Blvd." A typical record 1162 in the road name record table 1160 is a road name field 1164 that references a textual representation of the base road name stored in the road name table 1170.
And an indication of the prefix / suffix combination as an index into a predetermined set of prefix / suffix combinations, and a prefix type field 1166 that includes a text representation of the type of road.

Returning to record 1112 of address / city / state name table 1110, city / state name field 11160 references record 1132 of city / state name table 1130. Record 1132 includes a city name field 1134 that encodes a textual representation of the city name, and a state name field 1136 that references record 1142 of state table 1140 that encodes the state name.

Some tables shown in FIG. 11 accumulate lists of text names. These include a country name table 1120, a road name table 1170, a state name table 1140, and a city / state name table 1130. In FIG. 11, references to records are shown as enabling direct access to the stored textual display. Referring to FIG. 12, an exemplary text table 1200 includes a heading 1210 and a compressed text area 1220. A reference to a particular record is used as the offset of the heading 1210 to the record 1212. Record 1212 includes an origin field 1214 and a length field 1216. Compressed text 1220 includes all text representations that are encoded as a series of 6-bit character representations. Origin field 12
14 is the heading of the first 6-bit character of the record. To enable the procedure performed by the on-board computer 210 to access the text portion, the procedure first converts the heading to the stored 8-bit first byte address, and then displays the 6-bit character representation. Decompose to form a standard 8-bit character representation of the record.

Referring to FIG. 14, another set of tables supports entry of a destination as a “point of interest” (POI). Points of interest are classified into types such as "restaurants", "ATM machines", and "gas stations". The POI type table 1410 includes a series of records. Exemplary record 1412 of POI type table 1410 includes a type field 1414 that references record 1422 of POI type table 1420. Record 1422 is a text representation of the POI type.

The record 1412 of the POI type table 1410 is an offset field 1 referring to the first record 1432 of the record range 1444 of the POI name / city name table 1430.
416. Record 1 immediately after record 1412 in POI type table 1410
The offset field 1417 of 413 refers to the record 1446 of the POI name / city name table 1430 immediately after the record range 1444 of the POI type table 1410.

The record 1432 of the POI name / city name table 1430 includes a country name table 1120 (FIG. 11).
In the first record of the record range 1464 of the POI list table 1450 associated with the country / name field 1434, the POI name field 1438 referring to the record of the city / state name table 1130, the POI name field 1438 referring to the record of the city / state name table 1130, It includes an offset field 1440 that refers to a record 1452 of a POI list table 1450. The offset field 1440 of the record 1433 immediately after the record 1432 of the city / state name table 1430 includes the POI list table 1450.
Is referred to the record 1466 immediately after the range 1464.

The record 1452 of the POI list table 1450 includes a road name field 1454 that refers to the record of the road name record table 1160, an address field 1456 that encodes an address related to the address of the point of interest, and a It includes a telephone number field 1458 for encoding a telephone number, and a latitude / longitude field 1460 for encoding the latitude and longitude of the point of interest.

The onboard database 432 includes another table that supports other formats of destination specifications. In an example of a system that supports destination specifications in "yellow page" (phone book) format, the on-board database 432 includes a table representing the occupations of yellow pages in text format. In an example of a system that supports destination specifications with a pair of intersecting roads, the on-board database 432 includes a table representing valid combinations of intersecting roads. If it contains a table of combinations of intersecting roads,
The table may include only major road intersections, or separate intersections of major roads with smaller residential roads, and / or intersections of residential roads with sufficient free space for onboard system storage. If there is, it can be included.

Another table of the vehicle-mounted database 432 is used in the guidance process when it is determined that the vehicle has deviated from the route. To elaborate, these tables show the main road network 1000 (FIG. 10).
) Is encoded. Referring to FIG. 13A, a representative link of main road network 1000 connects node i 1301 and node j 1302. Link c13
07 connects the nodes i1301 and j1302. Link c1307 is 2
Three forming points 1303 and 1303. Node i 1301 is also connected to links a 1305 and b 1306, and node j 1302 is also connected to link d 130
8 and e1309.

Referring to FIG. 13B, several tables are used to represent the main road network 1000. The records in these tables relating to the representative link shown in FIG.
3B. Master node table 1310 includes records whose length is logically variable for each node of the road network. 1312 associated with node i1301 includes a latitude / longitude field 1314 that encodes the location of node i1301. Record 1312 also includes a set of link fields 1316, each field corresponding to each link connected at node i1301. Each link field 1316 contains information about the direction at which the node can switch from the link to another link, and a reference to a record in the link section table 1330 associated with the link. For example, the link field 1316 related to the link c1307 refers to the record 1332 of the link category table 1330.

The record 1332 of the link division table 1330 includes a road name field 1334 referring to the record of the road name record table 1160 and a reference node field 1336 referencing the records 1312 and 1318 of the master node table 1310, respectively.
And a non-reference node field 1338. The record 1332 also includes a formation point information field 1340 that refers to the record 1352 of the formation point information table 1350.
including. The record referred to by the formation point information field 1340 includes not only information related to formation points on the link, but also information related to markers on the link. Record 1332 also includes a grade field 1342, which encodes the road grade of the link, and an address range field 1344, which references two records in address range table 1180, one for each side of the road.

The record 1352 of the link forming point table 1350 includes a forming point number field 1354.
And an indicator number field 1356. For each formation point, the record 1352 includes an encoding of the change in latitude and longitude from the previous formation point or from the reference node of the first formation point. Record 1352 also includes a sign information field 1360 that describes signs that a person driving along the link will see.

2.6 Server Software Components (FIG. 5) Referring to FIG. 5, server system 125 includes server computer 310 (FIG . 5) .
FIG. 3) includes software executed thereon. The software includes a navigation application 512 used to interact with the on-board system. The navigation application 512 is coupled to a communication interface 514 used to communicate with the telephone interface 320 (FIG. 3). The navigation application is also coupled to a GPS interface 516 that is coupled to a GPS receiver 325 (FIG. 3).

The navigation application 512 also makes use of a number of databases accessed via the data interface 518. The server system 125 includes a server map database 520 that contains the complete road network 700 (FIG. 7). This database is retrieved from the map information 360 provided by the map provider 160. This map information is processed by a map processor 550 that reformats this information to form a server map database 520. The same map information is used to retrieve the map information stored in the vehicle's in-vehicle database 432.
Map processor 550 may be implemented as a software module running on server computer 310, or may be running on another computer assigned to the reformatting task. Extracting both the server map database and the vehicle map database from the same map information ensures consistency between the vehicle data and the server data.

The navigation application 512 also uses the yellow page database 522 to convert the telephone number of the desired destination to an address in the “reverse” number lookup table. Information required for the construction of the yellow page database 522 is provided by an external information system 130, such as a telephone company or telephone directory publisher.

The navigation application 512 also utilizes the traffic database 524. The information in the traffic database 524 includes the speed of a typical link used for setting a route. This information is obtained by combining a government-managed traffic monitoring station and an external information system 130, such as recorded data obtained from research vehicles (Chapter 3.5). When collecting traffic information using a research vehicle, the traffic information can be provided from a server system to an external traffic information system.

3 System Operation (FIGS. 15A-B and FIGS. 16-18) 3.1 General Procedure The operation of the system involves the cooperation of the in-vehicle system 105 and the server system 125 (see FIG. 1). . Procedures from the start of the designation of the destination by the driver of the vehicle until the vehicle reaches the designated destination are shown in the pseudo code lists of FIGS. 15A and 15B and FIGS.

Referring to FIG. 15A, vehicle-mounted system 105 (FIGS. 1 and 2) from when the driver starts to specify a desired destination to when the vehicle-mounted system can start guiding to the driver's destination. Shows the procedure followed. The in-vehicle system first receives a destination specification from the driver (line 1502). This requires some interaction with the driver, for example, so that the driver selects a city, then a road and a street address. As described further below (Chapter 3.2.1), the system supports various types of destination specification procedures.

The in-vehicle system also determines the first vehicle position or data on the first vehicle position, in another version of the system the vehicle direction (line 1503). The position or position related data includes (a) GPS estimated position or pseudorange measurements obtained while the navigation request is in progress, (b) past GPS estimated position, (c)
One or more of the previous GPS estimated positions or dead reckoning positions from the driving operating point are included. The estimation of the starting position is described below (Chapter 3.2.2).

Upon receiving from the driver the details of the destination and the position data relating to the current position of the vehicle, the onboard system starts a communication session with the server system (line 15).
04). The in-vehicle system calls the server system with a cellular phone,
Then, a communication session is started by starting data transmission with the server system by the modem. The in-vehicle system then sends the location data and destination specification to the server system (line 1505).

Referring to FIG. 15B, the server system accepts a communication session from the vehicle and receives location data and destination details (line 1553).

The server system receives signals from a number of GPS satellites 140 and calculates GPS correction data for each satellite (line 1554). Thereafter, the server system determines the location of the vehicle (line 1555). If the in-vehicle system provides raw GPS data, such as pseudorange measurements, to the GPS satellite 140 in determining the position of the vehicle, the server system applies the calculated GPS correction data to the raw GPS data provided by the vehicle. To calculate the position of the vehicle.

In another example of a server system, the server's GPS receiver (or at least one
It is not necessary to install two GPS antennas at a central server. For example, the centralized server may be some distance from the vehicle. The GPS receiver and antenna are located closer to the vehicle than the central server. In this case, the GPS correction data becomes more accurate because the GPS receiver of the server system is close to the vehicle whose GPS estimated position is being estimated. Also, the server system may include multiple GPS receivers at various locations. In that case, the server system selects the GPS receiver closest to the vehicle for which the correction data is provided. In this way, a single server system can service vehicles deployed in large geographical areas where common GPS correction data cannot be used due to geographic variations in correction terms.

Regarding the specification of a particular type of destination to be received, particularly the specification of a destination in the form of a yellow page, the designation of the destination at this point is not sufficient. In this case (line 1556), the driver would need to make further inputs in response to the secondary specification data provided by the server system. The server system sends the secondary data to the vehicle (line 1557). For example, if the driver specifies a destination in the form of a yellow page, the server system provides secondary data with a specific list of that type near the location of the vehicle.

Returning to FIG. 15A, the onboard system receives secondary destination specification data (line 1507). The in-vehicle system presents this data to the driver and receives a description of the secondary destination from the driver, for example, as a selection from a destination list included in the secondary specification data. The specification of the secondary destination is sent to the server (line 1509).
At this point, the server system will have a fully specified destination.

Returning to FIG. 15B, the server system sets up a route (see chapter 3.2.4) from the location of the vehicle to the specified destination (line 1561). The server system also determines a spot map around the vehicle location to download to the vehicle. The server system also determines whether to download the spot map around the driving operation point in consideration of the complexity of the driving operation, and determines the spot map around these driving operation points.

The server system transmits the set route, spot map, and GPS correction data to the vehicle-mounted system (line 1563).

Returning to FIG. 15A, the in-vehicle system receives the set route, the spot map, and the GPS correction data from the server system (line 1512), and stops the communication session with the server system (line 1513).

Referring to FIG. 16, the vehicle is now in a standby state in which the driver waits for a guidance instruction for a driving operation at the time of departure for traveling on the set route from the initial position. First, the in-vehicle system initializes its estimated position. The server system improves the accuracy of the estimated position provided by the GPS receiver by sending the GPS correction data provided by the in-vehicle system to the GPS receiver. GPS provided by server system
The correction data is only valid for a short time. About one minute after the server system obtains GPS correction data from its GPS receiver, the in-vehicle system stops using this correction data and uses standard GPS instead. As will be described in detail below, GPS correction data can be obtained at other times during the run, in which case the in-vehicle system will provide the correction data for a fixed time interval after the correction data is generated by the GPS receiver. Providing data to the GPS receiver.

During the departure driving operation, which is the first running part of the vehicle until it follows the set route, the in-vehicle system uses the position estimated by the differential GPS until the GPS correction data becomes too old. Then, the vehicle is tracked using the uncorrected GPS estimated position (line 1604). The in-vehicle system displays the spot map with the display of the estimated position of the vehicle and the set route (line 1305). When the in-vehicle system detects that the vehicle is following the set route, the driving operation part at the time of departure is completed, and the part following the route is started by turning.

Referring to FIG. 17, the procedure of following the route is executed by notifying the driver of each link along the set route. While traveling along the route, the in-vehicle system maintains two estimated positions of the vehicle. The first estimated position is based on GPS estimates or (D) GPS estimates when current GPS correction data is available. The second estimated position is based on dead reckoning. This procedure assumes that the vehicle is following the set route correctly. Dead reckoning updates the second estimated position using information from a driving operation point and waypoints along a set route and a vehicle sensor, particularly a speed sensor. If the vehicle is really following the route, the two estimates should be close to each other. Note that this dead reckoning does not use the estimated direction to track the position of the vehicle because it assumes that the vehicle is traveling along the set route.

While driving along the link, after performing the first driving operation at the first node of the link,
The in-vehicle system initializes the off-route allowance. This tolerance is the allowable difference between the position estimated by GPS and the position estimated by dead reckoning. This tolerance increases from the initial value immediately after the driving operation to compensate for the inaccuracy of the estimated position being reduced due to the inaccuracy of the calculation by the speed sensor and the aging of the GPS correction data. The off-route tolerance is initialized to 150 feet, but increases linearly up to 500 feet at a rate of about 1 foot every 100 feet.

While traveling to the next driving operating point (loop starting at line 1704), the vehicle increases its off-route tolerance (line 1705), tracks its dead reckoning position (line 1706), and The GPS or (D) GPS location is tracked depending on whether the GPS correction data is available (line 1707).

When the difference between the dead reckoning position and the (D) GPS position is greater than the off-route tolerance at any point, the off-route routine is initiated (line 1710).
).

When traveling along the link, the vehicle reaches a point near the next driving operation point.
If the vehicle is estimated to be within a certain distance range from the next driving operation point, the driver receives a graphic and audio notification of the next driving operation from the on-board system. The size of the notification range depends on the grade of the road on which the vehicle is traveling, and this is related to the time until the driver performs a driving operation to receive the notification. For example, on a highway, a driver receives a notification of a driving operation point such as a highway exit far ahead of a driving operation point than a notification of a driving operation point in a residential area.

While traveling along the link, the in-vehicle system tries to detect the exact point of the next driving operation. If the vehicle is within a certain distance range from the next driving operation point, the in-vehicle system attempts to detect this driving operation point. For example, if the driving operation is a right turn, it is clear that a signal from a vehicle-mounted sensor such as a magnetic compass or a rate gyroscope, or the time series of the estimated GPS position at which a change in direction is detected has a driving operation point. To instruct.

When a driving operation point is detected (line 1718), the in-vehicle system updates its dead reckoning estimated position according to the position of the driving operation point (line 1719). Also,
The in-vehicle system uses its own GPS to use the location of the downloaded operating point.
Correction data is calculated (line 1720). That is, the in-vehicle system calculates the deviation of the latitude and longitude of the driving operation point, and stores these deviation values in the estimated position of the latitude and longitude output from the GPS receiver for one minute interval after the driving operation. Apply as a correction value. Alternatively, the in-vehicle system calculates new GPS correction data using the position of the driving operation point when the driving operation point is detected and the pseudo-range measurement value obtained by the GPS receiver of the vehicle, and calculates these GPS correction data. Is used for one minute interval after the driving operation.

Here, it should be noted that, for example, a driving operation such as a slight turning, which is not accurately detected by the vehicle sensor, may not be detected. In such a case,
The in-vehicle system continues the dead reckoning procedure assuming the vehicle is on the route. Such undetected driving operating points behave essentially like waypoints in terms of tracking the dead reckoning position of the vehicle.

The procedure of following the route continues from one link to the next along the route until the destination is reached (line 1725).

Referring to FIG. 18, the off-route routine first includes a dead reckoning position correction procedure (lines 1802-1810). After the difference between the estimated positions is detected, if the traveling direction matches the set route for an interval of, for example, 75 feet, the dead reckoning position is updated to a point closest to the (D) GPS estimated position along the set route. . In this way, the position correction procedure should successfully resolve this error even if the deviation of the estimated position is due to inaccurate tracking of the distance along the route. (D) GPS
If the deviation between the estimate and the dead reckoning estimate is less than the off-route tolerance, the in-vehicle system returns to the route following procedure (line 1808). On the other hand, if even the closest point on the set route is away from the (D) GPS position by the off-route tolerance or more, the position correction procedure does not work well and a procedure for resetting the route is started.

Referring to FIG. 18, the route re-establishment procedure first includes the main road network 1 stored in the vehicle.
000 on the vehicle position (FIG. 10). The link that the vehicle is traveling is found using the GPS estimated position (line 1811).

If the vehicle is found to be on the main road network, the in-vehicle system calculates the best route leading to one of the driving points or waypoints along the previously established route (line 1813). . The new set route to the outage or waypoint on the previous route, along with the rest of the previously set route, becomes the new set route replacing the previous route (line 1815). Thereafter, the process returns to the procedure of following the route for each link (line 1816).

In the following, certain aspects of the general operation of the system will be described. These aspects include the calculation of the best route in the server system as well as the establishment of a route that includes a description of the destination on the vehicle. These aspects include not only the guidance operation performed by the vehicle system, but also the route resetting operation performed by the vehicle-mounted system when it is detected that the vehicle has deviated from the route. In addition, the operation of a system in which a fleet of vehicles is used to collect traffic-related data is described below.

3.2 Setting Route (FIGS. 15A-B) Setting a route involves several steps as shown in FIGS. 15A-B. The route setting operation will be described in detail. Specifying a destination (line 1502 in FIG. 15A)
, Positioning of departure position (line 1503 in FIG. 15A), inquiry to server system (
(Lines 1504 to 1510 in FIG. 15A and lines 1552 to 1560 in FIG. 15B)
Set route (line 1561 in FIG. 15B), download route and spot map (lines 1562-1563 in FIG. 15B, and line 151 in FIG. 15A).
2) is included. The specified operations performed by the in-vehicle system and the server system in each of these steps are described in the following sections.

3.2.1 Entering a Destination As shown in FIG. 15A (line 1502), the first step in navigating to the desired destination is inputting the destination by the driver of the vehicle. In-vehicle system 10
5 (FIGS. 1 and 2) allows the designation of a destination in a number of different ways. In general, the in-vehicle system uses the in-vehicle database 432 (FIG. 4) to allow the driver to select an option by scrolling through a list of choices. One of the following may be selected as the specification of the destination.

Street address (eg, city, street and street number); points of interest (eg, city, point of interest and selection from list); yellow page list (eg, list type and selection from list); A telephone number of the destination; a pair of intersecting roads; a selection from a list of recently specified destinations; a selection from a list of previously selected destinations included in the user's personal information. In the first interaction with the system, the driver specifies which destination input method to use, for example, to choose from a choice display list.

3.2.1.1 Designation of Road Address One method by which a driver can specify a destination is to specify a destination address.
The specification of the destination in this case consists of the designation of a complete combination of country name, state name, city name, road name and street number. The user does not need to enter each of these fields in order. For example, the current (ie, previously used) country and state name may be used as a default.

The fields can be specified in another order. One is to first scroll through the list of cities in the current country and state and select a city. Referring to FIG. 11, a valid state name list is obtained from the city / state name table 1130. When the driver selects a desired city, the on-board system provides a scrollable list of valid street names for that city. A valid road name list is an address / city / state name table 1100 and its associated address / road name table 1150, road record table 1160, road name table 1170.
Is obtained by using After selecting a desired road, the driver inputs an address. The in-vehicle system checks the address using the address / road name table 1150 and the address / range table 1180.

In the procedure described above, another method can be used for selecting from the list of valid names. For example, there is a method of finally specifying a complete name uniquely by scrolling the list with the “UP” and “DOWN” buttons to change the prefix of the name. This system does not necessarily have an alphanumeric keyboard. In that case, the driver moves the cursor to a desired character or numeral portion and selects the character or numeral, thereby inputting the address name or numeral of the road. The city of the desired destination may not be known. In that case, the city name may remain unknown at first. The list of valid road names provided to the driver by the in-vehicle system includes all roads associated with the current state name. If the street name is selected and the city name is unclear, the driver makes a selection from a list of possible city names and then enters the street address. After specifying the street address of the destination, the city name may become clear.

3.2.1.2 Designation of Point of Interest In specifying a point of interest (POI) as a destination, the driver first selects from a list in which the types of points of interest are listed. Examples of POI types include banks, gas stations, hospitals and restaurants. Referring to FIG. 14, a list of valid type names is obtained from the POI type name table 1420 by the in-vehicle system.

The driver can select a particular POI corresponding to the selected POI type in a number of ways. In the first method, the driver's next choice is to select a city with a POI as the destination. The system uses the POI name / city name table 1430 to display a list of names, addresses, and telephone numbers of selected types of POIs in the selected city. Thereafter, the driver makes a selection from the displayed POI list. For example, a telephone number may be useful if a driver wants to call a destination, such as a restaurant, before deciding whether to go to that destination.

This system can display a POI because it is closer to the current location of the vehicle, rather than specifying a city. For the POI corresponding to the selected POI type, the estimated position of the latitude and longitude by GPS is compared with the latitude / longitude field of the record in the POI list table 1450. After that, the in-vehicle system displays those POIs in order of the current position, not in alphabetical order.

3.2.1.3 The "Yellow Pages" Vehicle Database 432 Supports Designation of Destinations by Yellow Page List for Vehicle Systems, but is sufficient to store all possible lists for the driver to search. Does not have capacity. Instead, it contains a list of types such as "jewelry store". The in-vehicle system first displays a type name list for the driver to select a specific type. The driver then selects a city name for a particular destination or requests a list with the closest to the current location. The in-vehicle system presents that type of list to the driver, who makes a selection from the list. Note that at this point, the designation of the destination has not been completed because the particular destination (ie, the street address) has not yet been designated.

When a communication session with the server is started, the server sends a specific list corresponding to the type or job type of the selected yellow page to the in-vehicle system in the order of the selected city or the vehicle location. to download. Thereafter, the driver makes a selection from the downloaded list.

3.2.1.4 Specifying Other Destinations Several other options for destination specification methods can be supported by the in-vehicle system.

The driver can specify the destination by selecting a pair of intersecting roads. To support the selection of a pair of intersecting roads, the on-board database 432 includes a table showing valid main road pairs, possible main road and side road or side road pair pairs. After selecting the first road, the driver selects one road from the displayed list of valid intersecting road names.

As in the case of designating a destination by an address, when a city is not designated before designating an intersecting road, a city is designated after selecting one or both roads.

[0138] The driver can specify a destination by specifying a telephone number. Since the complete telephone directory is not stored in the in-vehicle database 432, the in-vehicle system starts a communication session with the server system whether or not the telephone number is correct, apart from whether or not the area code is correct. Not verified before. After receiving the telephone number, the server system searches the telephone directory in the reverse direction to obtain the address of the destination road.

As will be described further below, each driver can store a personal information list in the vehicle, but a corresponding storage area may be provided on the server system. In this personal information list, typical destinations designated by the driver as specific places, such as workplaces, homes, and airports, can be posted.

The driver can specify a destination by making a selection from several recently specified locations. For example, a driver may return to a recently visited work-related site.

Although there is another version of a system that specifies a destination by a road address, the on-board system does not have data for confirming the range of the specified road address. For example, the in-vehicle system may not have the ability to identify any address, and the destination may be outside the geographical area where the data indicating the address range is stored.
The in-vehicle system can start a communication session with the server computer even if the road address cannot be confirmed. The server computer completes this verification procedure.

3.2.2 Starting Positioning The in- vehicle system sends its estimated position to the server system or
The raw GPS data is transmitted from the GPS receiver to the server system, and the server system calculates the vehicle position from the data (line 1503 in FIG. 15A). There are situations where the vehicle cannot receive signals from GPS satellites at its departure position. I do. For example, the vehicle may be in an underground garage. In this case, the vehicle uses the estimated position determined by the system before arriving at the starting position. In addition, there may be a significant time interval after the GPS receiver is first powered up before it gives an estimated position. For example, a GPS receiver needs to determine the position of each satellite within range and calculate their position in orbit.

Therefore, the on-vehicle system can be used even when the driver is not guided along the route.
Maintain the history of GPS estimated position constantly. This history is stored in the non-volatile memory of the in-vehicle system until the system is turned off. Therefore, even if the GPS signal cannot be received at the starting position, the latest GPS estimated position in the accumulated history is used.

The in-vehicle system not only transmits the position-related data to the server system,
Transmit data related to speed and direction. Directions can be obtained from past GPS estimated positions or from a magnetic compass. The information on speed and direction allows the server system to determine, for example, on which part of a number of nearby road segments, based on the class of the road segments and the permissible heading directions on those segments.

If the vehicle that has not arrived at the departure position has not been guided, this departure position can be determined by dead reckoning along a previously set route.

When the GPS correction data is transmitted from the server system to the vehicle-mounted system, the vehicle-mounted system updates its departure position with the GPS correction data (line 1 in FIG. 16).
602). For example, when the GPS correction data is pseudo range correction data, the in-vehicle system transmits the pseudo range correction data to the GPS receiver, and receives the corrected estimated position from the GPS receiver. If the GPS correction data is latitude and longitude offsets, the in-vehicle system applies these offsets to the estimated position output from the GPS receiver.

3.2.3 Inquiry to Server When the vehicle-mounted system starts a communication session with the server system (FIG. 15A)
Line 1504-1510), the system does it in two steps.
First, the in-vehicle system connects to the server system via a cellular telephone, and then transmits and receives modulated data via a cellular telephone line.

As a first step, the connection by the cellular telephone is executed by the in-vehicle system dialing the designated number and calling the server system. In-vehicle systems can handle the typical error conditions found in analog cellular telephone networks, such as when they are out of range of the cellular telephone system or when the capacity of the cellular telephone system does not accept the call.

As a second step, the in-vehicle system attempts to establish a data connection with the server system after the telephone connection has been made. A representative modem interacts to select compatible modulation, compression and error correction protocols.
To save the time required to initiate a communication session, a particular protocol set is pre-selected, for example, as the "lowest level" common protocol supported by all vehicles. The server system expects communication using this lowest level protocol. This makes it possible to flow data as soon as possible without waiting for the completion of the exchange for selecting a protocol. Because the amount of data to be transmitted is relatively small, the time required to exchange for the best protocol selection is saved by transmitting data using the protocol selected as a result of this exchange instead of the pre-selected protocol. Probably greater than the time available.

3.2.4 Route Setting A well-known route finding method is used for setting a route in the server system (line 1561 in FIG. 15B). In particular, the A ^* ("A-star") graph search algorithm known in connection with the road network 700 (FIG. 7) is used for two examples. In one example, the A ^* algorithm starts at the starting position and starts "backwards" from the desired destination. The A ^* algorithm is a type of "best first" search. At any point in the execution of the algorithm, the actual distance along the graph from the first node to the set of intermediate nodes has been calculated. The lower limit (the estimated value depending on the algorithm version) of the distance from each intermediate node to the final node is added to the actual distance.
Extend the intermediate node with the smallest sum. Using that lower bound, the algorithm gives the shortest path from the first node to the last node. The A ^* algorithm is used for two cases, and the best route is selected if there is an intermediate node common to the two cases.

A ^* Alternative methods to the routing algorithm can be used. For example, Dijkstra's algorithm or another type of "best first" algorithm can be used.

The setting of the route can be performed based on various criteria. The cost of the route is calculated by using the actual distance of each link in the road network as the shortest total distance. The lower limit of the remaining path may be the straight line distance between the intermediate node and the last node. The route setting may be based on the shortest expected travel time. The travel time along a link can be based on expected speeds of various grades of road, or based on designated speed data stored on a server system associated with a particular link. For example, the server system may know that a particular link is congested and therefore slower than the expected speed of that grade of road. Routing algorithms tend to avoid such congested links if there is another route.

Other routing methods can be used on the server system. For example, a route can be limited to follow a particular road segment, and the cost of the route can include factors other than distance or expected travel time, such as tolls for the route.

3.2.5 Download Route and Spot Map Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, the server system downloads the route as a series of links connected at the driving operation point, and also downloads the departure position or the selected location. The spot map is downloaded as a small graph around the driving operation point (lines 1562-1563 in FIG. 15B and line 1512 in FIG. 15A). This data is represented as a compact data structure to save time required for downloading.

The set route is downloaded using a compression format as a series of links constituting the route. For each link in the setup route, the information downloaded includes the starting node of the link, encoded as a 32-bit integer in units of 10 ^-5 degrees (
Latitude and longitude of the driving operation point) Turn information encoded as an index representing a message such as “turn right” or “turn left”; the number of “branches” at the current driving operation point; The number of waypoints before reaching; and the grade (eg, road width or grade) of the road segment associated with this link.

In addition, for each waypoint, the link data includes a 12-bit integer in units of 10 ⁻⁵ degrees from the previous waypoint or from the starting node for the first waypoint. Includes encoded latitude and longitude changes.

By encoding a change in latitude or longitude with 12 bits, the change is almost 2 bits. ¹² x10^-FiveNote that it is limited to = 0.04 °. Server system
Between the driving operation points or intermediate points where one section of the route set by
If a larger change is involved, the server system marks the change in 12-bit magnitude.
Insert yet another waypoint that is close enough to be encoded.

In addition, for each link, the downloaded data includes the name of the road associated with the link, the name of the road to which it will change by turning at the next driving operation point, and any signs or other signs to be presented to the driver. The length of the text field associated with the special information of the text field; and the text field itself.

For each “branch” of the driving operation point, the downloaded data includes data relating to the intersection angle of the roads connected at the driving operation point, so that a relatively accurate graphic display of the driving operation is displayed. This can be provided to the driver.

This route download format provides a compact display that can be quickly downloaded from the server to the vehicle. Another version of the system uses data from the onboard database, for example, by referencing stored road names or by using references to nodes of the main road network already stored in the vehicle. Can be further reduced. Other versions of the system may also include further information related to the link. For example, if the server knows that the link is in exceptional congestion, it can download the link speed.

Another method of downloading a route is to use a set of pre-set road segments stored in the in-vehicle system. Instead of a series of road segments, driving points and waypoints, the server system uses preset and stored references to these series of points. In this case, for example, a normal traveling route along the highway does not need to be particularly downloaded. The server system can periodically update the continuation of these points stored in the vehicles to become the route that those vehicles normally request. Alternatively, the previously downloaded routes may be stored in the in-vehicle system so that the server can refer to some of these routes when downloading the newly set routes.

3.3 Guidance The process of guiding a driver to a desired destination involves several aspects of the operation of the onboard system. These aspects include: driving operation at departure (FIG. 16); dead reckoning position tracking (line 1706 in FIG. 17); GPS position tracking and departure detection (line 170 in FIG. 17).
7-1710); and notification and detection of driving operation (lines 1712-1722 in FIG. 17). These aspects are described in the following sections.

3.3.1 Driving Maneuvers on Departure For some reason, the driver may not be able to follow the first part of the route. One is when the starting position of the vehicle is incorrect. For example, GPS may be indicated to be on a nearby parking lot or on an adjacent road, but on another road. Also, if the vehicle is on the road in the opposite direction than expected by the server system, the vehicle will tend to deviate from the route in the first place. Further, for example, there are cases where it is difficult to follow the instruction at the time of departure of a route due to reasons such as a short interval between side roads, an inappropriate road sign, distraction, or congestion.

For these and other reasons, the system cannot rely on the driver not making a mistake from the initial departure position. Therefore, a spot map is determined based on the departure position and downloaded to the vehicle. This spot map usually covers only two or three intersections in any direction from the starting position. Set route
It is shown together with a spot map, such as the position of a vehicle by (D) GPS. The driver gets on the set route using this map.

When the vehicle gets on one section of the set route and starts traveling in the correct direction, the guidance process by the change of direction is started.

3.3.2 Position Tracking by Dead Reckoning When the vehicle-mounted system enters a guidance process of following a route by changing direction, the in-vehicle system maintains the position estimated by dead reckoning of the vehicle. Generally, in-vehicle systems track the vehicle assuming that the driver is striving to follow the instructions. Dead reckoning is based on converting a signal from a speed sensor 232 and a linear approximation of a link between a driving operation point or a waypoint along a set route into an updated position. To elaborate further, if the in-vehicle system assumes that the vehicle is at a known driving operating point and the vehicle travels the distance measured according to the speed signal, the in-vehicle system will move the vehicle position from the driving operating point along a series of links. Estimate as a point at the measured distance. Since the node position at the end of each link is known to the in-vehicle system, the in-vehicle system determines the traveling direction of the vehicle when the vehicle travels on the subsequent link on the route past the driving operation point based on the link direction. presume.

Dead reckoning is based on a known correspondence between speed signals and mileage. Some factors that affect this correspondence are the tire pressure that changes with temperature, which changes the circumference of the tire. To improve the accuracy in estimating the mileage from the speed signal, a constant calibration procedure is supported. When detecting the driving operation, the in-vehicle system compares the estimated distance by the speed sensor with the estimated distance by the map. The in-vehicle system adjusts a scale factor relating the number of speed signal pulses to the mileage so that the mileage estimate from the speed sensor matches the map estimate.

3.3.3 Tracking Position Using GPS and Detecting Departure of Route While the driver successively passes through the driving operation points along the set route, the vehicle-mounted system performs
While receiving GPS satellite signals, it continuously updates the position estimated by GPS. In addition, there is an interval in which the in-vehicle system retains the current GPS correction data transmitted by the in-vehicle system to the GPS receiver, for example, to improve the accuracy of the GPS estimated position by the differential correction mode.

When the set route is downloaded, the in-vehicle system receives the GPS correction data from the server system. Another version of this system will have another time when the server provides the differential correction data, for example, during a communication session initiated for another purpose.

The in-vehicle system can also calculate its own GPS correction data once it knows its location accurately. When the set route is downloaded, the exact position of each driving operation point is downloaded to the server system, so when the driver detects that the driver performs the set driving operation, the position is very accurate. To estimate.

Therefore, when traveling on the set route, the in-vehicle system receives a time series of estimated positions by GPS or (D) GPS. The time series of the estimated position is constantly compared with the estimated position by dead reckoning which is also maintained by the onboard system.

After the driving operation of the vehicle is performed, especially when the GPS correction data is calculated based on the position of the driving operation point and the raw GPS data recorded when the vehicle passes the driving operation point, the GPS The position and dead reckoning position should match. When the vehicle travels correctly along the set link, it is expected that the dead reckoning position and the GPS position will be somewhat different for several reasons. These reasons may be that the estimation error by GPS is large and there is a possibility that there is an error in the map.

[0173] The GPS correction data is sent to the GPS receiver for about one minute after the driving operation. During that interval, the validity of the correction data gradually decreases. That is, the error of the position estimated by (D) GPS gradually increases. After no longer using the GPS correction data, the GPS error is expected to be within a fixed range.

The error in the estimated position by dead reckoning increases mainly due to the error in estimating the traveling distance along the link. Due to errors in the map for both the link length and the location of waypoints or maneuver points, errors in dead reckoning positions may increase.

The error increases for each of the two terms, but the combination of these errors is compensated by increasing the tolerance beyond which the in-vehicle system determines that the vehicle is off route. This tolerance starts at 150 feet. This tolerance increases at the rate of one foot for every 100 feet traveled to 500 feet.

If the difference between the two estimated positions at any point exceeds the allowable value, the in-vehicle system determines that the vehicle has deviated from the route and tries to correct the estimated position by dead reckoning, and if that is not successful. If so, perform the steps to reset the route (see Chapter 3.
4).

3.3.4 Notification of Driving Operation and Detection Both notification and detection of the driving operation use a position estimated by dead reckoning navigation. More specifically, an estimated value of a mileage as a scalar amount along a set route from a previously detected driving operation point by dead reckoning navigation is used.

The in-vehicle system gives an instruction to the driver at a point away from the operating point before the time when the vehicle is expected to execute the next driving operation. This takes into account both the reaction time required by the driver and the fact that the system estimates the distance to the next driving operating point is inaccurate. Taking into account the variability in the time or distance required for a driver to operate in response to instructions, on a high-speed link such as a highway, rather than on a small road in a residential area, it is farther from the next driving operation point Instructions are given away. Each road grade has a certain distance to the next driving operation point giving the next instruction accordingly.

[0179] The in-vehicle system also provides a voice prompt when the vehicle enters the reporting range. The graphical and textual prompts and instructions are displayed at least from that point when the vehicle enters the notification range, but may be displayed earlier.

In a “window” that defines a certain distance range around the point where the in-vehicle system expects to be the next driving operation point, the in-vehicle system attempts to detect the exact position where the driving operation is performed. For example, if the driving operation involves a right turn, the driving operation point is detected with high reliability by using the output of the in-vehicle magnetic compass or the direction estimated by GPS. In addition, the vehicle speed is detected to detect a specific driving operation such as stopping at the toll booth.

Some driving operations cannot be detected with high accuracy. For example, a signal from a magnetic compass may have a turn that is too slow to detect. If the vehicle passes through the driving maneuver detection “window” but fails to detect the expected maneuver, the in-vehicle system simply updates the dead reckoning position until the next maneuver is detected.

3.3.4.1 Indication by Display and Voice In addition to receiving an instruction by voice, a notification and an instruction regarding the driving operation are presented on the display of the in-vehicle system. This display has a graphical display of the distance to the next operating point, eg a bar chart with increasing bar length as you follow the link; eg a digital display of the remaining distance in miles or feet Including, for example, a graphical representation of the geometry of the road at the next driving point, indicating the intersection angles of all roads at the next crossing point; and text of a road sign visually perceptible at the next driving point. It is.

The voice instructions include various instructions stored in advance including an instruction for notifying the driver of the next driving operation point and an instruction for instructing the driver to perform a driving operation at a point where the instruction is given. Is included.

3.4 Route Resetting Upon detecting that the vehicle has deviated from the set route, the in-vehicle system executes a route resetting procedure (FIG. 18). In the first step, the vehicle is
The location on the main road network 1000 stored in the location 32 is determined.

The in-vehicle system searches the node list in the master node table 1310 using the predicted values of the latitude and longitude by GPS or (D) GPS. Using a series of estimated GPS positions or the output of a magnetic compass, the direction of travel along a link connecting adjacent nodes is determined. Accordingly, from this, it is possible to know on which link in the link classification table 1330 the vehicle is traveling and the traveling direction along the link.

After that, the in-vehicle system executes a search for finding the shortest route starting from the link and reaching one of the driving operation points or waypoints along the set route (for example, A ^* search). Many or all points on both sides of the last operating point are used as points where the re-established route connects to the previously established route. For example, ten points before and after the last detected driving operation point can be used. Limiting the number of points can reduce the amount of computation (time and memory) required to re-establish the route. If fewer than 10 points remain, the actual desired destination is one of the points where the re-established route leads to the established route.

Similar to the route setting method by the server system, the in-vehicle system sets the route using the A ^* algorithm. The starting position is obtained by scanning the master node table 1310 as described above. Since the intermediate nodes are considered in the A ^* search, the lower limit of the distance to the desired position is the straight-line distance from the intermediate point to the driving operation point or the intermediate point to the distance from the driving operation point or the intermediate point to the desired destination. The sum of the sum of the previously calculated distances is the minimum over the driving operating point and waypoint near the last detected driving operating point. In this way, the best point to rejoin previously set routes is found.

Like the route set by the server system, the cost of traveling on a link can be based on the link length, the estimated travel time of the link based on the road class of the link, or its cost based on specific road speed information associated with the link. Based on the estimated travel time of the link.

3.5 Data Collection by Floating Vehicles Referring to FIG. 19, the navigation application 512, which is a part of the server system 125, uses the traffic database 52 when setting a route based on the estimated travel time.
Use 4. In the above description of the system, the traffic database 524 is formed using traffic information provided by an external information system 130, such as a government-managed traffic monitoring station.

The server system 125 uses not only traffic information provided from the outside but also some or all of the vehicles 100 as survey vehicles for collecting traffic information.
The navigation application 512 receives the traffic information from the survey vehicle and feeds back the collected traffic information to the traffic database 524. Further, the server system optionally transmits the updated traffic information to the external information system.
In this way, the vehicle's navigation system may not only utilize traffic information from the external information system 130, but also provide an alternative source of traffic information.

Two modes are used for data collection. In the first mode, the onboard system of the survey vehicle collects current traffic situation data. These research vehicles sometimes upload the data they collect to a server system, and the server system updates its traffic database based on the uploaded information. In a second mode, the vehicle system of the survey vehicle may be configured to determine the speed of the vehicle based on the class of the road being traveled or on traffic-related data stored in the vehicle and correlating the expected speed with the road segment being traveled. Is significantly slower than expected. If the in-vehicle system detects that the vehicle speed is slower than expected, i.e., that there is some exceptional situation in view of the expected traffic situation, the in-vehicle system reports the exceptional situation to the server system, The server system has its traffic database 524
To reflect unexpected traffic conditions.

3.5.1 Collection of Traffic Information In the first mode of traffic data collection, the navigation application 412 of the vehicle-on-vehicle system 105 of the research vehicle uses the traveling speed (or equivalent) of the vehicle on the link of the main road network. The history (situation) of the travel time on the link is continuously collected. The in-vehicle system collects traffic condition data independently of the guidance function. That is, the vehicle does not need to be guided by the navigation system to collect traffic condition data. The navigation application accumulates the time of the day and the running speed on each link in the link speed log 1920.

In order to form the link speed log 1920, the onboard system uses the onboard database 4
The position of the vehicle on the main road network 1000 accumulated in 32 is tracked. The in-vehicle system uses the estimated GPS position received by the system from its GPS receiver to detect that the vehicle is following a road segment (link) of the main road network. In-vehicle systems are
The time required for the vehicle to travel from one end of the link to the other is recorded, and a link speed log stores references to the link, the time of the day, and the travel speed along the link. As the vehicle travels on multiple links in the main road network, a series of travel times are recorded, each of which is associated with the link that was traveled.

Occasionally, for example, if the vehicle leaves the main road network regularly, for example, daily, the in-vehicle system may use the recorded status information accumulated in the link speed log 1920,
The in-vehicle system transmits to the server system over a data line that is activated by a cellular telephone connection with the server system. After transmitting the information, the in-vehicle system clears its link speed log.

The driver of the vehicle has the option to activate or deactivate any of the data collection modes via the user interface of the onboard system. The server system can also activate (or request) any type of data collection. For example, the server system may allow more vehicles to be used if more data is needed, and may stop collecting data by some vehicles while receiving more data than necessary.

In the server system, the navigation application 512 receives recorded speed information from a number of research vehicles. The navigation application updates the traffic database 524 using the collected information. For example, a navigation application incorporates the reported speed for a particular link into the average speed for that link stored in the traffic database. Optionally, the server system provides the updated traffic information to the external information system 130.

On the server system, the traffic database 524 contains the start and end times of morning and evening rush hours, as well as the average link speed (in both directions) for each link. For each of these periods of congestion, the traffic database contains the average speed for that period.

Various values can be used for the interval. For example, the same 5 minute interval could be used, or an hour during the night, and a 5 minute unequal interval during a generally busy period.

Optionally, the average link speed stored in the traffic database 524 of the server system is downloaded to the on-board system of each vehicle and stored in its link speed database 1910. This link speed database, for example,
It is used by the in-vehicle system when setting a route based on the shortest expected travel time.

3.5.2 Reporting of Exceptional Conditions In the second mode of traffic data collection, the onboard system uses information in its link speed database 1910, which includes all links in the main road network 100. The estimated traveling speed of the vehicle is included. For example, in consideration of the variation due to the morning and evening congestion periods, a large number of traveling times are accumulated for each link. The following information is recorded for each link.

Typical expected speeds; start and end times of morning congestion periods; expected speeds of morning congestion periods; start and end times of evening congestion periods; expected speeds during evening congestion periods.

Alternatively, other types of intervals can be used to store speed information. Also, the in-vehicle system can determine a representative expected speed of the link based on the class of the link, without depending on the specific speed information of the link.
For example, links on grade 4 (highway) generally have a speed limit (eg, 55MP).
H) can be expected.

As in the situation data collection mode, the in-vehicle system of the research vehicle tracks the vehicle position based on the GPS estimated position while traveling on the main road network and detects when the vehicle passes a specific link of the main road network. I do. The in-vehicle system indicates that the travel speed along the link is the expected speed of the link at that time of day (eg, 75% of the expected speed).
If the traffic speed is substantially slower or faster than the slow traffic speed, it is determined that an exceptional traffic situation has occurred.

[0204] When an exceptional traffic situation occurs, the in-vehicle system initiates a communication session with the server system by calling the server system with a cellular telephone. The in-vehicle system encodes this exceptional situation and sends a short data message to the server system indicating its link and running speed.

As another method of reporting the exceptional traffic situation, the vehicle selects whether or not to transmit the exceptional traffic situation message by probability. In this example, not all vehicles that encounter an exceptional traffic situation transmit to the server system, thus reducing the communication load on the server system.

The server system receives the exceptional traffic situation message from the onboard system. The server system updates the traffic database 524, which routes based on the exceptional traffic situation messages received from the research vehicle. If the "density" of research vehicles on the road network is sufficiently high, the server system will typically receive exceptional traffic situation messages from a large number of research vehicles. Therefore, as an option, the server system may need to update the traffic database before updating it.
Alternatively, a requirement may be that three or more survey vehicles report an exceptional traffic situation (ie, the exceptional traffic situation is confirmed by other vehicles).

The server system resets the expected speeds of the links for which the exceptional traffic conditions have been reported, after a lapse of a certain time since the investigation vehicle stopped reporting the exceptional traffic conditions for those links.

Operation of the exceptional traffic situation data collection mode does not necessarily require driver intervention. The driver of the research vehicle can activate or deactivate this exceptional traffic situation reporting mode. Also, the in-vehicle system can be configured such that the driver is required to confirm the exceptional traffic situation before sending the information to the server system. For example, an in-vehicle system could display an exceptional traffic situation message to the driver, and the driver would have to press a button to confirm that the message was valid before sending it to the server system . This verification scheme can prevent the vehicle from reporting the presence of an exceptional traffic situation when the speed is reduced for reasons unrelated to the traffic situation, for example, a stop at a gas station along the link. .

In another version of the system, exceptional traffic conditions are recorded, rather than immediately reported to the server system. The in-vehicle system then uploads traffic situation data recording the exceptional traffic situation to the server system in the same manner as uploading personal information.

3.6 In another version of the server control system, the system may control the speed of receiving data from the research vehicle or to receive data related to a particular area or road, for example. Control data collection. Other ways to control data collection include:

As a first option, the survey vehicle does not transmit the recorded speed data until it receives an inquiry from the server system. The server system polls the vehicle to receive the recorded speed data. In one approach, the server system polls the vehicle based on the geographic region in which the vehicle normally travels. For example, if the server system does not have the latest data on the road in a certain area, it polls vehicles that normally travel in that area. To poll a vehicle, the server system utilizes a cellular telephone or notifies the vehicle's on-board system. When receiving the call, the in-vehicle system transmits the recorded speed data to the server. For example, as another method than using a telephone line, there is a method of broadcasting a message to a large number of vehicles using a broadcast channel on a sideband of commercial radio broadcasting. Separately from this method, the server system polls vehicles that have recently provided set routes and expect to have speed data recorded for road segments of those routes.

As another example, a call is made to a server system to transfer the speed data recorded by the in-vehicle system, and the server system has previously given the in-vehicle system an instruction on when to make the call. . For example, when the server system provides the set route to the in-vehicle system, along with the set route, an instruction is provided to instruct the server system to call the server system after passing the designated road segment.

Alternatively, whenever the in-vehicle system calls the server system, the server system optionally requests the vehicle's recorded speed data. If the vehicle requests a routing service, during the interval between the upload of the desired destination and the start of downloading the configured route, or any other interval not used for data transmission from the vehicle to the server system Perform data transmission.

As another method, when the server system provides the set route to the in-vehicle system, the set route reflects the latest expected link time of the server system (that is, the link time reflects recently received data of the survey vehicle). ) Is included. In this option, the exceptional traffic situation on one road segment is not reported to the server if the server system already knows the exceptional traffic situation at the time of routing.

3.7 In another version of the data fusion system, the server system receives traffic-related information from an external information service. For example, the server system may receive a contingency report (e.g., a failure report) and, based on the report, predict a decrease in travel speed without waiting for data from the research vehicle for those road segments. I do. Similarly, the server system receives information about the event (eg, a sporting event) and predicts the link speed based thereon. The server system combines these predicted link speeds with the link speed reported by the survey vehicle when calculating a new route for the in-vehicle system according to the shortest expected travel time criteria.

4 Vehicle Update (FIGS. 20A-C) In the systems described above, the in-vehicle system and the server system have data that is kept in a consistent state. For example, the main road network stored in the in-vehicle system includes a subset of those road networks on the server system. If the data is consistent, the destination specification confirmed by the in-vehicle system will also be valid for the server system.

The information used by all navigation systems is updated from time to time. For example, the map provider updates the road network periodically to compensate for previous errors or to reflect changes in the road network, such as adding new roads.

Another version of this system uses one or more approaches to updating the in-vehicle system so that the in-vehicle database and the system database remain consistent. If these databases are consistent, the specification of the destination ascertained by the onboard system will not be determined to be invalid by the server system when the server system attempts to route to that destination.
Conversely, if these databases are consistent, the in-vehicle system will not rule out destinations that the server system determines to be valid, for example, because a new road has been added to the road network. Will.

[0219] The system also includes means for updating the software in addition to the data of the in-vehicle system. For example, the user interface for existing features can be changed by downloading new code. You can also download completely new features. This new or changed functionality will include modified menus and graphical displays used to interface with the operator.

The new software and interface will be integrated into the in-vehicle system using one of several well-known options. For example, a new software module can provide a predefined input point that is accessed from an existing software module in an in-vehicle system. Data describing the interface to the new software module can be downloaded along with the code that implements the module. The user interface can be implemented using low-level code that manipulates the pixels on the display, or can use a high-level description, such as using a markup language (eg, HTML).

The navigation system uses one or more of the following alternative approaches to updating the in-vehicle system.

Physically replace the static memory of the in-vehicle system; update via high speed data link, for example at a dealer or other service center; update via data link via cellular telephone. Each of these approaches is described in the following sections.

4.1 Physical Replacement of Memory Referring to FIG. 20A, in a first approach, the static memory 222 of the onboard computer 210 of the onboard system 105 is a removable device. For example, the static memory 222 may be a PCMCIA card or a flash memory system containing a magnetic disk.

Updating the in-vehicle system involves replacing the memory 222 with another memory 222a preloaded with an updated version of the database. This allows
For example, if the main road network needs to be updated to correspond to different geographic areas, a quick update of the entire database is possible.

4.2 Updating with High Speed Data Link Referring to FIG. 20B, a second approach to updating the on-board system
For example, transfer of data to an in-vehicle system via a data line of up to 1 Mbit / s is included. This onboard system includes a data interface 2020 connected to the onboard computer 210 of the onboard system 105. The source of the update data is connected to the data interface. For example, high-speed connection means 201
0 is connectable to a service device 2030 of a dealer or service center that downloads updated information using an industry standard communication protocol such as Ford's SCP or SAE J1850 protocol. Alternatively, the owner of the vehicle may
31 (like a laptop computer) can be connected to the in-vehicle system.
Update information of the in-vehicle system will be obtained by the owner on a recording medium 2040 such as a CD-ROM or via the Internet. A wireless connection such as an infrared link can be used for the connection 2011 between the personal computer and the in-vehicle system.

Referring to FIG. 20C, yet another alternative approach to updating an in-vehicle system utilizes a wired telephone line. In this approach, the in-vehicle system has a medium speed modem 2050 (eg, a 56 kilobit per second modem) and a telephone connector. The owner has access to the public telephone network (PSTN) 340 from the telephone connector.
A physical connection 2052 is made. The in-vehicle system calls the server system or another server for updating data and downloads the data at a medium speed via this telephone line.

4.3 Update via Wireless Link A third approach to updating the in-vehicle database utilizes a wireless data line, such as a cellular telephone line, between the in-vehicle system and the server system. The amount of data that can be transmitted in a reasonable time (eg, one hour or less) is limited by the relatively slow data transmission rates achievable by such lines. Typically, over a wireless data link, data is updated incrementally, rather than downloading a whole new copy of the database.

[0228] One of several alternative approaches is used to initiate a database update over a wireless data line connected to the server system. In the first, the driver explicitly requests an update via the user interface of the in-vehicle system. The second approach allows the in-vehicle system to request an update based on the time elapsed since the previous update. In a third approach, the database edits can be downloaded after the in-vehicle system initiates the communication session with the server system and before or after downloading the set route. As a fourth approach, the server system calls each vehicle and "pushes" the updated information into each vehicle in turn.

To maintain consistency between the onboard data and the server system data, the data in the database is of a certain number of versions. Update the version number each time the server system updates its data. When a vehicle requests a route, the vehicle also provides version number information of the data used to identify the destination specification for the route. The server system uses the received version number information to check which update information has not yet been downloaded to the calling vehicle.

The server does not necessarily need to download all update information in one session. Instead, it sends update information little by little. In this incremental transmission approach, the most relevant updates are transmitted first. For example, the server system updates the main road network of the city where the vehicle normally travels before downloading the update information of another city.

If the database of the vehicle-mounted system is old, the confirmed destination specification information transmitted by the vehicle-mounted system to the server system will be invalid because the road network has changed.
For example, the road name may have been changed. Therefore, when the destination detailed information received by the server system from the vehicle-mounted system is not valid, the server system notifies the vehicle-mounted system, and the vehicle-mounted system notifies the driver. The driver can then specify another address or wait for the updated information to be downloaded from the server system to the vehicle.

5 Additional Services Another version of the vehicle information system not only provides navigation services, but also provides additional services such as roadside assistance, remote vehicle control, traffic information and communication related services. provide.

5.1 Emergency and Roadside Support Services Emergency and roadside support services provide a method for a vehicle driver to contact a support facility to inform the vehicle location. Referring to FIG. 21A, in a driver-initiated interaction, the driver selects options for emergency and roadside assistance services on a user interface of the onboard system. The vehicle calls over a cellular telephone line to a server system or another server to which the in-vehicle system is configured to handle such requests. When the call is connected, the in-vehicle system makes a data connection to the server to be called. The in-vehicle system sends the vehicle ID to the server. The server uses this ID to access information such as vehicle make, model and color, which may be useful for dispatched service vehicles to find the driver's vehicle. The in-vehicle system also transmits its estimated location or raw GPS data and the most recent driving direction based on its GPS measurements. The server system applies the GPS correction data to the estimated vehicle position or the raw GPS data to calculate a corrected estimated position. When the in-vehicle system has completed the data transmission to the server, the driver can use the vehicle's telephone handset to talk to the telephone operator 2010 at the server. This allows the driver to provide detailed information useful in dispatching the vehicle to assist.

Apart from requests for assistance from the driver, the in-vehicle system includes a mode in which a request for assistance is automatically issued by an airbag system activation or some other signal indicating an emergency. This mode may be used, for example, when a vehicle is involved in a collision and the driver cannot or will not make a call for assistance.

5.2 Remote Control of Vehicle Another service is remote control of a vehicle. The in-vehicle system is coupled to a vehicle subsystem or vehicle control subsystem, such as a door lock subsystem. This combination allows the use of a standard vehicle data communication infrastructure currently used in many vehicles, such as the SCP (corporate standard protocol) on vehicles manufactured by Ford.

5.2.1 Unlocking of Door Referring to FIG. 21B, unlocking of the door by remote operation is an example of a vehicle control service by remote operation. If the driver locks the car leaving the key in the vehicle, the driver contacts the server system, for example, by calling a telephone operator who has access to the server system. After the appropriate authorization by the telephone operator, the telephone operator initiates a remote door unlocking procedure performed by the server system.

[0237] When the driver is away from the vehicle, the vehicle's cellular phone receiver is not normally "on" to reduce battery drain. Therefore, the server system typically cannot call the in-vehicle system to unlock the door.

According to a well-defined schedule, the in-vehicle system checks whether there is an incoming call at that time by repeatedly powering up the cellular telephone receiver. For example, an in-vehicle system repeats this cycle every 15 minutes. When the in-vehicle system detects that there is no incoming call, it turns off the telephone receiver until the next scheduled check time.

The vehicle schedule is stored in the server system, and the in-vehicle system and the server system share a common time base based on, for example, GPS signals. The server system initiates a data transmission channel with the in-vehicle system by making a cellular call until the next scheduled check time of the locked vehicle. When the data line is connected, the server system sends a command to unlock the door to the in-vehicle system.

When the driver of the vehicle requests the door unlocking service from the telephone operator, the telephone operator notifies the driver of the vehicle of the time at which the door is unlocked. This is because the operator knows.

5.2.2 Vehicle Immobilization The vehicle immobilization service uses the same method as the door lock release service.
The vehicle driver calls the telephone operator of the centralized server to report that the vehicle has been stolen. The server system calls the in-vehicle system as soon as the vehicle's telephone receiver is powered on, or uses the scheduled power-on mode used for the door lock release function described above.

In any case, when the in-vehicle system and the server system communicate with each other, the in-vehicle system sends the vehicle position to the server system, and the server system sends to the in-vehicle system a command to deactivate the vehicle. The in-vehicle system then sends a command to the vehicle system to deactivate the vehicle.

5.3 Traffic Information The traffic information service provides the driver with a traffic condition report related to a small number of designated selective “trips”. For example, a driver has three alternative routes to go from home to work. When attempting to initiate the trip, the driver interacts with the in-vehicle system to request traffic information about those trips. The in-vehicle system contacts the server system, which provides the driver with information about the current traffic situation for each trip.

One way for a driver to specify a trip is to use an on-board table that shows a set of trip categories. These sections typically include many road sections of the road network. For example, some of the major highways between two intersecting highways will be trip segments. The driver plans a personal trip by selecting a subset of the trip segments. When the in-vehicle system contacts the server system to check the traffic situation on the driver's personal trip, the in-vehicle system transfers the driver's selected trip segment to the server system.

The server system seeks to know the current traffic situation associated with the driver trip from its traffic database, which contains the current link speeds on the road segments of the road network. Various options are conceivable for displaying traffic conditions. In this version of the system, traffic conditions are categorized into a small number of categories: "normal,""congested," and "extremely congested," each category being graphically presented to the driver with a different icon.

In another version of the system, one of the trips previously specified by the user
In the case of exceptional traffic conditions, the server system actively contacts the user. For example, the server system may send the information by calling the in-vehicle system, or send a call message, send an e-mail, or call the user to report an exceptional situation.

In another example, a user specifies several optional trips. When the server system detects that an exceptional traffic condition exists on one of the user-specified trips, the server system actively downloads traffic information associated with the optional trip. In this way, the user can reset the route without waiting for the in-vehicle system to call the server system.

6 Scalable Server Architecture (FIG. 22) Referring to FIG. 22, another example server system 125a is provided with the functions of the server system 125 described above to provide an extensible server for providing other services to the vehicle. Provide architecture. Server system 125a has a number of server computers coupled via LAN 2205. As another example, the functions of these server computers can be implemented on a small number of computers or on a single computer that performs all of these functions.

The server system 125a includes a gateway system 2210 coupled to the telephone interface 320. The gateway system 2210 is connected to the vehicle 10
0 and is used to provide a communication gateway between the server computer of the server system 125a and implements a message routing function such that information received from the in-vehicle system is sent to an appropriate server computer. The gateway system 2210 does not necessarily need to interpret the contents of data passing between the server system and the vehicle.

The server computer includes a navigation system 2250 that executes the navigation application described above. When the in-vehicle system requests a routing service by initiating a communication session with the server system 125a, the gateway system 2210 uses the information provided by the in-vehicle system in the communication session to determine whether this session should be connected to the navigation system 2250. Judge. For example, an in-vehicle system specifies a navigation service in the first part of the data flow. Alternatively, the various services implemented by server system 125a have different telephone numbers assigned to telephone interface 320, and gateway system 2210 connects to the appropriate server computer based on the telephone number dialed by the onboard system. Do.

The navigation system 2250 includes the server system 12 as shown in FIG.
5 functions are realized. That is, it has an interface to the GPS receiver 325 and includes a server map database 520, a yellow pages database 522, and a traffic database 524. Navigation system 2250 is coupled to map provider 2252 and traffic information system 2254.

[0252] Another service provided by the server system 125a is the communication system 2
260. This communication system 2260 is an electronic mail system 2
262 and a paging system 2264. These external communication systems transmit messages directed to the particular vehicle to communication system 2260. The communication system 2260 includes the gateway system 22.
It sends a request to 10 to start a data communication channel with a particular vehicle and sends data and instructions to the in-vehicle system.

[0253] The vehicle-mounted system has a software module corresponding to the service provided by the server system. For example, communication information sent from the communication system 2260 to the in-vehicle system is received by a communication module that interprets received data and instructions. For example, the messaging module may display a call message or an e-mail message on a display of the in-vehicle system or provide them as a synthetic voice message.

[0254] News system 2270 provides a service of transmitting data corresponding to news of interest to a driver of a specific vehicle to the vehicle. News is provided by an external news service 2272.

Server system 125a also has a remote configuration system 2230 coupled to LAN 2205 and the Internet. By using the remote configuration system, users of the navigation system can change their records in the user's personal information 2232 stored in the server system. The user's personal information can be downloaded from the server system to the in-vehicle system of the user's vehicle or stored on the server system. The information included in the user's personal information may include various information including the accumulated destination selected by the user when specifying the destination for the in-vehicle system. For example,
After specifying a list of destinations that are frequently visited via the Internet, the user can select a specific destination by displaying and selecting the list using an in-vehicle system in the vehicle.

Another aspect of the user's personal information is related to traffic information services. The user does not need to determine a set of trips using the in-vehicle interface, but may select a trip using a graphical map interface. For example, an entire map of the highway system or the main road network is displayed. The user selects several routes on the graph by selecting several consecutive trip segments. These trips may be downloaded to the user's vehicle or stored in a server system. When stored in the server system, if the user requests traffic information in the vehicle, the in-vehicle system does not necessarily transmit the driver's trip details, specifies the driver's name, and the server system stores the driver's Search for a trip.

The user's personal information may include a preference such as a specific road that the user does not want to use. The user's personal information can also include time saved when using a road that the user does not want to use.

[0258] The user may also enter a remote configuration system 2 to enter a routing request.
Use 230. For example, the user sends a description of the destination to the remote configuration system, and the server system downloads a set route to the destination before the user gets into the vehicle. Users can access the remote configuration system via a variety of media, including the Internet, a voice telephone line that interacts with an automatic speech recognizer located on a server. In addition to specifying the destination, the user can also make a request to indicate the time at which the trip must begin to arrive at the destination at a specific time. This departure time teaching is possible by telephone, call service or various other notification methods.

The addition of a new service to the server system 125a adds a server computer, updates the gateway system 2210 so that communication for the service is directed to the new server computer, and executes software corresponding to each vehicle-mounted system. This is done by adding a wear module and updating the in-vehicle system.
The in-vehicle system is updated via a cellular telephone line or physical connection, as described above (see Chapter 4).

Other versions of this system may not have all of the features described above. For example, the traffic information system may include a trip specified by the driver. The in-vehicle system contacts the server system to get traffic information for those trips. The in-vehicle system does not require a GPS receiver or a map database, or other devices that only support these features.

In another example, the in-vehicle system does not necessarily support autonomous re-routing. If the in-vehicle system determines that the vehicle has deviated from the route, it can contact the server to reset the route or provide a map to be used for the reset.

Another version of this system provides the ability to make a detour. To elaborate,
The driver specifies a road segment to be excluded from the set route, and the in-vehicle system uses the main road database to set a detour around the road segment.

In another version of the system, the server system sets and downloads several routes, for example, routes that are chosen based on different criteria, such as the shortest time, the shortest distance, and the like. The in-vehicle system displays the attributes of the options (for example, time, distance), and the driver selects one of them. If the server has not downloaded all routes yet, it will continue to download the selected route.

In another example of a system, the server system downloads another data along with its route. For example, traffic information is downloaded and displayed to the driver. In addition, the advertisement information about the restaurant along the route is downloaded and displayed to the driver, and the vehicle travels along the route. The other data downloaded can be adjusted by the server system to suit individual drivers according to the vehicle ID received by the server system. For example, the server may select the advertising data to be downloaded by the in-vehicle system for display to the driver while navigating the route, according to the driver's personal profile or his previous travel pattern. it can.

As another example, for example, traffic information is downloaded to a vehicle according to a set of trips specified by a driver. The traffic information is displayed along with a road network map. Traffic information is displayed using one of a variety of formats, including textual descriptions, icons and colors.

In another example, the server system does not download the spot map to the on-board system. The in-vehicle system gives an instruction to change direction from the starting point. For example, the first
Will be "go to road X" which includes an arrow indicating the direction of road X.

In another example, the in-vehicle system has a main road network for autonomous route re-establishment, but does not include address range data for confirming the address of the road. Instead, the in-vehicle system uses the server system to confirm the address specified by the driver.
In this way, the in-vehicle system partially confirms the address, and completes this confirmation using the server system.

The same server system can simultaneously support in-vehicle systems with various capabilities, such as the various selective capabilities described above.

Another version allows the driver to specify a series of destinations. For example, the first destination may be a gas station and the second destination may be a driver's workplace. All of the series of destinations are confirmed before the onboard system contacts the server system. The server system sets a route from the departure position to the first destination, and then sets a route from the first destination to the next destination. The server system downloads the entire set route to the in-vehicle system.

7. Other Embodiments Still other examples of this system use different hardware configurations and provide a different set of functions. For example, driver information services other than navigation or traffic services are provided to drivers via in-vehicle systems. These information services utilize various data sources, such as accessing data over the Internet.

7.1 Modular Transceiver / Handset (FIGS. 23A-B) One variation of this system utilizes a modular hardware architecture for on-board equipment in the system, sharing modules with the cellular telephone system. I do. Other related embodiments utilize other wireless communication systems, including, for example, terrestrial or satellite wireless data networks.

This example of an in-vehicle device of the driver information system is described in, for example, JRC Canada Inc. or A
Use a commercially available cellular phone module, such as a module from udI / Ovox Inc. Referring to FIG. 23A, a standard configuration of such a module is that a cellular telephone module 2320 is connected to a handset module 2360 via a two-way data line 2321 and an input / output audio line 2322. A similar standard module configuration includes a controller module coupled between a handset module and a telephone module.

With reference to FIG. 23B, in this example of the system, the on-board computer 2310
The cellular telephone module 2320 and the handset module 2360 are combined. The in-vehicle computer 2310 is configured to allow the driver to send and receive cellular telephones in essentially the same manner that the handset module 2360 utilizes the handset module in the standard configuration shown in FIG. 23A. In addition, the onboard computer 2310 uses the handset module 2360 for interfacing with the driver and operates the driver information service using the cellular phone module 2320 to access the server system via cellular phone communication. It is configured to provide to the person. The system shown in FIG. 23B has the same function as the system shown in FIG. Specifically, the on-board computer 2310 provides a navigation function and controls a user interface function provided by the on-board computer 210 (FIG. 2). However, instead of using a separate I / O device 240 (FIG. 2) for input and output of the driver information system, the onboard computer 2310 utilizes the input and output devices of the handset module 2360.

With continued reference to FIGS. 23A-B, cellular telephone module 2320 has a cellular transceiver 254 and an integrated or external cellular telephone antenna 255. The cellular telephone module 2320 having the standard configuration shown in FIG. 23A receives digital information such as digital dial information from the handset module 2360 via the data line 2321 and receives digital information such as caller information via the data line 2321. Send it out to handset module 2360. FIG.
3B, onboard computer 2310 of this embodiment sends digital information, such as dialing information or data to be transmitted to a server system, to cellular telephone module 2320 and transmits digital data, such as map-related data, to cellular telephone module 2320. Receive from Cellular telephone module 2320 also typically sends and receives audio signals, such as speech signals, for communicating with the server system by telephone.

The handset module 2360 has a display 2362. The display 2362 of this embodiment is a grid-like display consisting of two lines, each having eight character positions, but a bitmap display rather than a larger or somewhat smaller display or a character-coded display. May be used. Cellular phone module 2320 and handset module 2360
Communicates via the data line 2320 with a communication protocol that allows the display 2362 to be controlled externally.

The handset module 2360 also includes a keypad 2364 such as a keypad having, for example, ten numeric keys and several function designation keys. The communication protocol used on data line 2321 is keypad 236 pressed by the user.
(4) The related information can be transmitted from outside according to the button on the top.

The handset module 2360 also includes a sound input / output device 2366 such as a microphone and a speaker. The audio signal is an audio line 2322
To / from the voice input / output device 2366 and the cellular telephone module 2320 via

In operation with reference to FIG. 23B, when the handset module 2360 is used as a normal cellular telephone, the in-vehicle computer 2310 transmits a data signal and a voice signal between the cellular telephone module 2320 and the handset module 2360. To be sent and received. When the system operates in the driver information mode, the on-board computer 2310 receives and processes digital signals encoding user input to the keypad 2364 and controls the display 2362 to output alphanumeric and icon outputs. Generate a digital signal to display. In this way, the onboard computer 2310 provides navigation and traffic information to the driver via the display 2362.

The display 2362 has a limited output capability, especially when compared to the capabilities of the bitmap graphic display in the other embodiments described above. The onboard computer 2310 shows various angle transitions on this limited capacity display, such as 45 °, 90 ° and 135 ° transitions and 0 ° and 180 ° (U-turn) transitions in each direction. An expanded set of displayable symbols including arrows (ie,
The navigation instruction is presented to the driver using pictograms). An instruction such as "turn right at 0.5 miles on Main Street" is indicated by an arrow indicating a right turn,
0.5 "and a street name such as" Main "which turns right. There are other ways to present navigation instructions on a display with limited capabilities.

The in-vehicle computer 2310 generates a voice instruction to be sent to the handset module 2360 via a voice path connecting the computer and the handset module. Alternatively, the in-vehicle computer may provide audio instructions via an external speaker device, for example, an audio system of the vehicle. The audio signal includes a speech instruction, such as synthetic speech or recorded speech. In another embodiment, instead of sending a speech signal from the computer 2310 to the handset module 2360, the handset module 23
The tone generator 60 generates a tone in response to a digital signal from the onboard computer 2310 or in response to an audio signal synthesized by the onboard computer 2310.

The user enters commands and information into the in-vehicle system in a manner similar to that shown in FIGS. 2A-C and utilizing the limited graphic input and feedback available on the wireless display. This user interface extends the stored scroll menu that is often used to control features on the cellular phone or to access the name of the directory. Referring to FIG. 23C, the menu choices for operating the telephone are “Navigation” (Step 2376), “Roadside Assistance” (Step 2374), and “Traffic Information” (Step 2372) at the top level of the menu. Has been extended to include The user selects a named item that includes a city name, an intersection, and a location of interest by typing a spell on the keypad, selecting from a scrolling list, or both. The user can determine the appropriate input by referring to the printed map, as described in section 7.4.

The in-vehicle computer 2310 also has an optional speech recognition function that allows the driver to input a command to the voice input / output device 2366 instead of inputting the command to the keypad 2364. The on-board computer 2310 processes speech commands or sends speech signals to a remote server that performs all or part of the speech recognition function, and the server sends the results back to the on-board computer.

Referring to FIG. 23B, the on-board computer optionally includes a sensor 23.
0 and the display 240. Sensor 230 provides information about the mileage and direction of the vehicle. The display 230 is a handset 2360
Provide a graphic output instead of or in addition to the graphic output presented via the display 2362 of the.

FIG. 23B shows the in-vehicle computer 2310 connected directly to the handset 2360, the cellular phone module 2320, the sensor 230, and the display 240. In another embodiment, some or all of these devices communicate via a bus in the vehicle or by on-board radio frequency communication means. For example,
The display 240 may be a general-purpose information display controlled via a standardized in-vehicle data bus. In another embodiment, on-board computer 2310 is coupled via a communication bus to another on-board device, such as a vehicle diagnostic system or a paging receiver.

7.2 Hybrid and Autonomous Client / Server System (FIG. 24)
Another example of this system utilizes a combination of autonomous and client / server operations. Referring to FIG. 24, hybrid vehicle-mounted system 2400
Is an in-vehicle computer 2420 coupled by a communication system 250 to a remote server system 125 via a cellular telephone system wireless communication link. As with the system shown in FIG. 1, server system 125 utilizes map information 360 provided by map provider 160.

In FIG. 24, the in-vehicle system 2400 has a regional map 2410 stored on an exchangeable medium such as a CD-ROM. The regional map 2410 is provided by the map provider 160 or extracted from raw information provided by the provider. Regional maps include those that include local roads (
That is, the regional map is not limited to the main roads), but is limited to the geographical area covered. In contrast, onboard computer 2420 also includes an onboard database 432 that includes major roads that are not necessarily local roads. Since the regional map is limited to a relatively small geographical area, it often includes detailed road information of the region so as not to exceed the capacity of the storage device. In another embodiment, the data for major roads in a large area and the data for rural roads in a smaller area can both be mounted on a single storage medium, but this data is stored on an exchangeable storage medium. Instead, it may be stored in the vehicle-mounted system.

[0287] When the local road information is included on the regional map 2410, the in-vehicle system can determine a route from the starting point to the destination in a specific situation without requiring the service of the server system. . If the vehicle is within the area of the regional map 2410 and the user enters a destination that is within the area of the regional map 2410, the onboard computer 2420 will determine the shortest path based on the data stored in the regional map 2410. Is calculated. The in-vehicle computer 2410 does not necessarily need to contact the server system 125 to determine the route to travel, but may optionally contact the server system to obtain traffic information to be used in determining the best route. is there.

If the starting point and the destination are both outside the area of the regional map, the system operates in the client / server mode described above. That is, when the user inputs a destination, the in-vehicle computer confirms this completely or partially. Thereafter, the onboard computer contacts the server system 125 and requests a route from the starting point to the destination. The server system provides a route to be followed by the in-vehicle system.

If only part of the route from the starting point to the destination is within the area of the regional map, a combination of autonomous and client / server operation is used. For example, if the regional map includes a city area where the vehicle is located and the user specifies a destination in another city area, the onboard computer sets the first part of the route. The in-vehicle computer requests the route information of a route portion having no detailed map information. The server system provides a partial route, and the onboard computer combines the downloaded partial route with the route portion calculated by the computer itself. This reduces the amount of data to be downloaded. Further, when the vehicle is within the boundary of the regional map, the driving instruction can be promptly provided without waiting for the first operation instruction to be downloaded from the server system.

Another related embodiment utilizes a regional map 2410 for autonomous operation,
The vehicle-mounted database 432 having the map information is not included. In such an embodiment, the in-vehicle system contracts with a remote server for all routing functions outside the area covered by the regional map 2410, including confirmation of destination specific information. Several other server modes are possible, but also include fully autonomous servers of the type described above. Alternatively, if the driver desires directions to a point outside the area covered by the regional map 2410, he may contact a human operator at a remote server. A human operator enters destination specific information into an autonomous routing system at a remote server. The remote server then establishes the route and other information related to the route (eg, corridor maps, places of interest along the route,
Route-specific advertisements) to the in-vehicle system.

A related embodiment that includes map information in the on-board database 432 utilizes various amounts of such map information. For example, only the information necessary for confirming the details of the destination (for example, the street name and the address range) may be included. Alternatively, information on the position of the main road may be included in the on-vehicle database.

In yet another embodiment, the route is within the area covered by the regional map 2410 and the in-vehicle system can make the setting, but an option to specify that the remote server set the route is provided. Give to the driver. For example, in-vehicle systems do not have current traffic information, and thus the best route may not always be set according to actual traffic conditions. If the driver specifies that a remote server set the route, the in-vehicle system checks the details of the destination on the regional map 2410. Then, without setting a route, a remote server is contacted, and the server calculates a route according to information that the in-vehicle system cannot use, for example, the latest traffic information.

Another “third party” data, such as an advertisement, can be sent to the information pod (informatI / On pod) along with the requested information. For example, in addition to traffic information near the vehicle, an advertisement for a nearby restaurant or gas station may be downloaded and presented to the driver. Downloaded data (eg, advertisements) can be tailored to the driver according to the ID of the information pod being uploaded. For example, the server system may select the advertisement according to the driver's past travel patterns, his actual location, or other personal information available to the server system.

7.3 Exchangeable Storage Devices Another example of this system is provided to the user on an exchangeable medium or by a high-speed data connection, such as by telephone connection or an infrared link to a personal computer. Use a customized database for the user, downloaded directly to the in-vehicle system. For example, in the hybrid system shown in FIG. 24, the regional map 2410 is customized for each user. In another embodiment of the system, a customized in-vehicle database (eg, in-vehicle database 232 in static storage 222 of FIG. 2) is stored on a replaceable device. These customized databases can utilize other interchangeable media such as CD-ROMs, solid state storage cards, and magnetic disks. These databases are customized for a particular user and include, for example, areas where the user normally travels. Such a customized database can be provided to the user in a variety of ways, including sending the customized stored data by email or downloading the data over the Internet to create a replaceable medium on the user's personal computer. It is possible to In this way, the geographical area where the map data is stored in the vehicle can be matched with the area where the user normally travels. Further, in the hybrid system shown in FIG. 24, an area in which complete map data is accumulated can be selected separately from an area in which only data of main roads is accumulated.

7.4 Limited I / O Devices (FIG. 25) Another example of this system utilizes a printed map to further enhance the user interface. The driver refers to this map when using the electronic system. Referring to FIG. 25, the user has a print map 2510. As one use of the printed map, the map may be a legal road name, abbreviated name, number, or other symbol of the main road, Cartesian coordinates along the horizontal and vertical edges of the map, and road segments. Includes printed annotations, such as a signed identifier of The driver
For example, instead of inputting a road name and an address of an address, a location on a map is roughly specified and destination specifying information (for example, Cartesian coordinates) is input. The user interface of the electronic system is thereby greatly simplified. For example, in the system shown in FIG. 23 in which the input / output function is limited to the function of the handset of the telephone, the coordinates of the destination can be quickly input by the keyboard.

For a related approach, print map 2510 consists of a number of pages. One page shows schematic information, for example, only one main road. The local roads are shown on the map showing each part of the main road map in detail. When designating a place, the driver firstly designates the place on the main road map to obtain general information. Then, referring to one detailed map, an accurate location and more detailed information are designated.

With continued reference to FIG. 25, translucent overlay 2550 is
Above 540. The display 2540 is a point-emitting LED that emits light individually.
Has a limited resolution as formed by an array of Overlay 2
The printed image on 550 is highlighted by the point light emitting portion of the LED. As one example,
Overlay 2550 depicts a printed map showing the main roads in that one area. An LED is used to indicate a point on a main road, for example, a congested portion on a highway. As another example, overlay 2550 does not necessarily depict a road, but rather shows a geographical area, such as a quadrant (northwest, northeast, southwest, southeast) or a boundary of a city. For example, one or more points are illuminated to roughly indicate a traffic congestion area. It is also possible to roughly indicate the location of the vehicle or to indicate the destination of the route by such an overlay. As yet another alternative, the overlay may be permanently attached to, for example, display 2540,
You may make it impossible to exchange. Various overlay maps are available to the driver. These overlay maps may correspond to printed maps that provide further detailed information.

Another related embodiment utilizes a printed map or overlay display separately or in combination. Also, this alternative embodiment does not include a navigation or route setting function, but provides traffic information to the driver. FIG.
Although the display 2540 is shown as a separate device in 5, the display can be integrated into the handset and the overlay can be attached to the display on the handset.

7.5 Low-Cost Self-Contained Handset System (FIGS. 26A-B) Referring to FIGS. 26A-B, another alternative system includes an information pod 2600, a handset-sized unit. Owned. The system in this example does not require a vehicle sensor, and does not require significant integration with the vehicle because it includes an integrated communication electronics. The information pod 2600 is an integrated GPS receiver 2610
, A cellular transceiver 2612 and an antenna 2613. Optionally, combining this information pod with a cellular booster and an external antenna,
A wider range than is possible with an integrated cellular transceiver alone can be obtained. The information pod 2600 includes a microphone 2610 and a speaker 2622.
Is provided. The information pod 2600 also includes a selector switch 2616 including a switch for accessing traffic information, police, roadside assistance, guidance, and personal information services.

In operation, the driver initiates interaction with the system by pressing one selector switch 2616. For example, the user presses a roadside assistance switch to request roadside assistance. The information pod is ready to communicate with the server system via the cellular transceiver 2612. The information pod determines the vehicle location (and, optionally, the last driving direction or the past location of the vehicle) by means of the GPS receiver 2610 and sends that information to the server via a communication channel. At this point, the server system can send assistance information to the driver or form a voice communication channel between the driver and the operator by means of a voice input / output module. Drivers access police or guidance services in a similar manner. In this way, the police or guide can immediately know where the driver is. For example, if the driver is looking for a particular restaurant, the guide can provide voice direction guidance according to the actual location of the vehicle.

Drivers access automated traffic information in a similar manner. When the driver presses the traffic switch, the information pod sends the vehicle position to the server system, which then provides traffic information according to the vehicle position. For example, the server system provides voice guidance information on a traffic accident in a general area where a vehicle is located by selecting available guidance information according to the vehicle position. Alternatively, the driver may have previously specified the driver's history, including typical routes that he has driven. This information pod accesses the driver's (or system's) ID and sends that information to a server system, which provides current traffic conditions for a designated route near the vehicle.

The driver accesses the personal information service by pressing a personal information switch (eg, a button with the symbol “I”). The information pod contacts the server system and sends the pod ID. The server system has accumulated information on the driver accessed according to the received ID. This stored information can specify, for example, information accessed by the server system via the Internet. Such information can include newspaper articles on topics selected by the user, stock prices selected by the user, or local weather forecasts. The driver maintains his history by past communication with the server system, for example, via an interface on the Internet web. The driver's personal information is sent as an audio signal from the server system to the information pod, which may be provided as an audio signal provided to the user or provided by the information pod after the cellular telephone is disconnected. It is output as a data signal to be used. For example, text data to be downloaded can be converted to speech by a speech synthesizer.

[0303] The information pod 2600 includes two state instruction light emitting means. Light emitting means 2625 indicating GPS status emits light when the pod receives GPS information and can therefore determine its position. A light emitting means 2626 for indicating the state of the cellular emits light when the cellular transceiver 2612 can communicate with the cellular telephone system and can contact the server system. These status indicating light emitting means
Gives instructions to the driver when a complete service of information is available. For example, the driver may wait for the GPS status indication light emitting unit 2625 to emit light before requesting traffic information according to the position of the unit.

Referring to FIGS. 26A-B, information pod 2600 is optionally coupled to display 240 via connector 2624. When the information pod 2600 is connected to the display, other information, such as detailed traffic information, is provided to the driver on the display. In another embodiment, the information pod 2600 can be coupled to another device, such as a display, via an on-board data bus to which the information pod is connected.

Another example of an information pod incorporates a small display, such as display 2540 shown in FIG. Further, the use of overlay 2550 on the display may enhance the quality of the graphical information provided to the driver.

Another example of this type of information pod has route settings and limited navigation capabilities utilizing speech recognition. For example, the driver pronounces a desired destination. This speech is processed in the information pod and sent to the server along with the vehicle's GPS location. Thereafter, the server system transmits the direction guidance to the vehicle.

It is to be understood that the above description is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, which is defined by the appended claims, but only to illustrate it. Other variations and design changes are within the scope of the appended claims.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a vehicle navigation system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an in-vehicle device of the system.

FIG. 2A is a diagram showing an integrated input / output device.

FIG. 2B is a diagram showing an integrated input / output device.

FIG. 2C is a diagram showing an integrated input / output device.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing components of a server system.

FIG. 4A is a diagram showing a software architecture of an in-vehicle system.

FIG. 4B is a diagram showing a software architecture of the vehicle-mounted system.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a software architecture of a server system.

FIG. 6 is a schematic map showing an exemplary area road network.

FIG. 7 is a graph illustrating a road network of an exemplary region.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a setting route downloaded from a server system to a vehicle.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a spot map downloaded from a server system to a vehicle.

FIG. 10 is a main road map preloaded on a vehicle.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a data structure of a vehicle-mounted database.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a structure of a text table of a vehicle-mounted database.

FIG. 13A is a diagram showing representative links of a main road network.

FIG. 13B is a diagram showing a data structure of an in-vehicle database for encoding a main road network.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing elements of an in-vehicle database that encodes information on points of interest.

FIG. 15A is a pseudo code list of a route setting procedure of the vehicle-mounted system.

FIG. 15B is a pseudo code list of a server route setting procedure.

FIG. 16 is a pseudo code list of a starting operation procedure.

FIG. 17 is a pseudo code list of a procedure for following a route.

FIG. 18 is a pseudo code list of a route resetting procedure.

FIG. 19 illustrates an extensible server architecture.

FIG. 20A is a diagram showing a method of updating the in-vehicle system.

FIG. 20B is a diagram showing a method of updating the in-vehicle system.

FIG. 20C is a diagram showing a method of updating the in-vehicle system.

FIG. 21A is a diagram showing an additional information service provided by the server system.

FIG. 21B is a diagram showing additional information services provided by the server system.

FIG. 22 is a block diagram of an extensible server system.

FIG. 23A is a block diagram of a standard modular cellular telephone architecture.

FIG. 23B is a block diagram in which the onboard computer is coupled between the handset module and the cellular phone module.

FIG. 23C is a flowchart illustrating a menu-driven user interface presented by the handset module.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a hybrid driver information system.

FIG. 25 illustrates the use of a printed map in a user interface.

FIG. 26A is a logical block diagram of an information pod.

FIG. 26B is a diagram showing a physical configuration of an information pod.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G09B 29/00 G09B 29/00 F 29/10 29/10 A (81) Designated countries EP (AT, BE, CH, CY, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, IE, IT, LU, MC, NL, PT, SE), OA (BF, BJ, CF, CG, CI, CM, GA, GN, GW, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD, TG), AP (GH, GM, KE, LS, MW, SD, SZ, UG, ZW), EA (AM, AZ, BY, KG, KZ) , MD, RU, TJ, TM), AL, AM, AT, AU, AZ, BA, BB, BG, BR, BY, CA, CH, CN, CU, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, I, GB, GE, GH, GM, HR, HU, ID, IL, IN, IS, JP, KE, KG, KP, KR, KZ, LC, LK, LR, LS, LT, LU, LV, MD , MG, MK, MN, MW, MX, NO, NZ, PL, PT, RO, RU, SD, SE, SG, SI, SK, SL, TJ, TM, TR, TT, UA, UG, US, UZ, VN, YU, ZW (72) Inventor Lord, Melvin, A. 48359 O Lion Sterling Hill, Michigan, United States of America 48 (72) Inventor Brown, Stephen 48315, Michigan, United States of America 48315 Shelby Township Addario Drive 47922 ( 72) Inventor Asher, Harry 48135 Garden City, Rush Street, Michigan, USA 31792 (72) Inventor Josefowids, Paul, D. B United States of America Michigan 48066 Roseville Chippendale 25180 F-term (reference) 2C032 HB02 HB05 HB22 HB25 HC08 HC13 HC31 HD03 HD17 2F029 AA02 AB01 AB07 AB09 AC03 AC09 AC14 AC18 AD05 5H180 AA01 BB02 BB04 BB05 FF03 FF12 FF12 FF22 FF24 FF25 FF27 FF33 FF35 FF38 [Continued] Provide service.

Claims (28)

[Claims] 1. A handset module including a display, a keyboard, and an audio device for receiving and reproducing acoustic information, a communication module having a wireless communication interface for receiving a data signal from a server, and a handset module and a communication module coupled to the communication module. A handset module coupled to the communication module, the computer comprising: (a) receiving a telephone dialing command entered by a user on a keyboard and coupling a voice device to a telephone communication channel via the communication module; A function of providing a communication service to the user of the handset module; (b) a function of receiving a driver information command input by the user via the handset module; and (c) a wireless communication from the server in response to the driver information command. A driver information system programmed to perform a function of retrieving information via a communication interface; and (d) a function of presenting the retrieved information to a user. 2. The driver information system according to claim 1, wherein the function of presenting the retrieved information includes displaying the retrieved information on a display of the handset module. 3. The driver information system of claim 1, wherein the function of presenting the retrieved information includes displaying the retrieved information on a display coupled to the computer. 4. The driver information system of claim 1, wherein the function of presenting the retrieved information includes playing the retrieved information on an audio device of the handset module. 5. A positioning system coupled to a computer, the computer further comprising: (e) receiving the geographical location of the driver information system from the positioning system; and (f) its location via a communication interface. The driver information system according to claim 1, wherein the driver information system is programmed to execute a function of providing the information to the server. 6. A plurality of switches for initiating access to a remote server in one of a plurality of corresponding modes of operation, a positioning system for generating location data relating to the geographic location of the system, a switch and a positioning system. A wireless communication device coupled to the system for transmitting location data generated in response to a signal from the switch to a remote server and then receiving information from the server; and coupled to the wireless communication device for presenting the received information. A portable information system comprising an audio output device. 7. The information system of claim 6, further comprising a storage device for storing the unique ID of the information system coupled to the wireless communication device and transmitting the unique ID to a remote server. 8. The information system according to claim 6, wherein the plurality of switches include a switch for activating a traffic information mode. 9. The information system of claim 6, wherein the plurality of switches include a switch for activating a roadside assistance mode. 10. The information system of claim 6, wherein the plurality of switches include a switch for activating a personal information mode. 11. The information system of claim 6, wherein the plurality of switches include a switch for activating an emergency mode. 12. A method for providing information to a mobile user, the method comprising: generating a start signal in response to input from the mobile user; receiving location data regarding the user's geographic location from a positioning system; Starting a communication session with the remote server via the remote server, providing location data to the remote server, receiving information from the remote server, and providing the received information as an acoustic signal to the mobile user. How to provide information to 13. The method of claim 12, further comprising retrieving the unique ID and providing the ID to a remote system, wherein the information received from the remote server depends on the provided ID. 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of generating a start signal includes generating a signal identifying one of the plurality of operating modes, wherein information received from the remote server is different depending on the operating mode. Twelve methods. 15. A first storage database containing information relating to roads of a road network in a first geographical area, and an on-board computer, the on-board computer comprising: (a) a starting point and an ending point of the road network; (B) a function of setting a route through a road network from the start point to the end point when the start point and the end point are in the first geographical area; and (c) a start point or an end point (1) providing route information via a road network, which executes a function of retrieving information on a route via a road network from a start point to an end point by communicating with a computer of a remote server when it is not within a geographical area; Car navigation system. 16. The in-vehicle navigation system according to claim 15, wherein the first storage database is stored on an exchangeable storage medium. 17. The system further comprises a second storage database containing information about major roads of a road network in a second geographical area, wherein the first geographical area is a common area in the second geographical area. 16. The in-vehicle navigation system according to claim 15, wherein the first storage database includes information on roads in a common area not included in the second storage database. 18. Receiving and receiving specific information of a starting point and an ending point of a road network, receiving and receiving a second storage database containing information on main roads of the road network in a second geographical area, Receiving a first storage database including information on roads of a road network in a first geographical area including a common area in a target area and including information on roads in a common area not included in a second storage database. Setting a route through the road network from the start point to the end point if the start point and the end point are within the first geographical area; and setting a remote server if the start point or the end point is not within the first geographical area. Contacting the computer of claim 1 to retrieve information about a route through a road network from a start point to an end point. 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the first storage database is stored on a replaceable storage medium. 20. A printed map displaying a geographical area with a road network within the geographical area and including annotations identifying geographic features within the geographical area; and a geographical area selected from the print map. An input device for inputting an annotation for identifying a characteristic portion; an in-vehicle computer receiving the input annotation and providing a setting route to a selected geographical feature portion via a road network; and presenting setting route information. A vehicle navigation system comprising an output device. 21. The input device is a keypad on a telephone handset,
21. The vehicle navigation system according to claim 20, wherein the output device is a display on a telephone handset. 22. The vehicle navigation system of claim 20, wherein the geographic features include road segments of a road network. 23. The vehicle navigation system of claim 20, wherein the geographic features include locations of interest on a road network. 24. The vehicle navigation system of claim 20, wherein the annotation identifying the selected geographic feature includes a coordinate value of the geographic feature. 25. The vehicle navigation system of claim 20, wherein the annotation identifying the selected geographic feature comprises an encoded representation of a road segment of the road network. 26. A method for displaying a geographic region with a road network within the geographic region, providing a print map including annotations identifying geographic features within the geographic region, wherein the print map is selected from the print map. Providing navigation information comprising the steps of: accepting an annotation identifying a geographic feature on an input device, setting a route to the selected geographic feature via a road network, and presenting the set route information on an output device. how to. 27. A translucent overlay including a printed map showing a road network, a display including a plurality of controlled light sources that receive the overlay and are visible through the overlay when activated, and one or more controlled light sources. A vehicle information system comprising an on-board computer programmed to provide information by activating a light source. 28. Providing a translucent overlay including a print mark, disposing the overlay on a graphic display having a plurality of light sources, and illuminating one or more light sources to indicate a vehicle position relative to the print mark. Providing guidance information to a driver of a vehicle.